


It's Not Unusual

by smoresies



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Eventual Smut, Knotting, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2018-08-18 05:18:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 32
Words: 113,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8150413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoresies/pseuds/smoresies
Summary: Rock Lee has been teased mercilessly since he was young, already labeled a useless Omega before anyone knowing if he was one.Gaara had been bred to be the most powerful Alpha to protect the Sand village.When the characters meet face to face on the battlefield of the Chunin exams, who's to say they have to follow guidelines exactly as they were written out to be? The most unusual thing they want to do, is to not be considered unusual at all.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story actually was a dream I had a couple of nights ago. I tried to get pen to paper and this is what I came up with. After the two meet on the floor is when my dream stopped so I don't know what's going to happen after that, hit me up if you have any ideas or wants!
> 
> GaaLee is one of my favorite ships and I'm disappointed in the lack of lengthy stories in this fandom so that's what I'm trying to change. 
> 
> I'd really like a Beta reader (perfect story for that title too) so if you're interested, talk to me. Just know, my Beta reader will need to keep me inspired! So I need someone to bounce ideas off of. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you enjoy!

"Omega! Omega!" Lee couldn't get the chanting words out of his mind. Even when he lay in bed at night he could still hear the taunts of the children echoing in his ears. 

Ever since he was a young kid, others taunted him for everything. His soft personality made him an easy target. When someone told him to do something, he would do it. He just wanted to make other people happy but no one else saw it that way.

He was submissive. He knew that about himself. It was hard looking at people in the eyes when you felt you weren't worthy of looking at them. He was labeled an Omega even way before he presented. He just accepted it.

Lee was just upset that so many people looked down on Omega. If it weren't for Omega, a lot of people wouldn't have children. Sure, people could still breed with an Alpha woman or a Beta woman, but that wasn't what nature had in store for most. With Alpha and Omega, they were able to use their noses to scent out people. This was a gift only received after they'd presented as such. Beta didn't really have a strong sense of smell. They were essentially the neutral party.

As Lee got older, the taunts got more vulgar. "Omega slut" "Bet you can't wait to get knotted by an Alpha" "I'm sure you can get wet enough for more than one knot". It was disgusting. To be demeaned in that way and not have an out.

When he became part of Team Guy, he had to be partnered with Neji, most definitely an Alpha. Lee watched his sensei try and teach all of them but it was hard to take training seriously when he knew as an Omega he could be taken off the team. It happened a lot. He's seen people train for years, present as an Omega and removed from the team because they were deemed as unsafe. Because if they went into heat in the middle of a mission, there's nothing the team could do. He'd heard of teams even raping an Omega, even when the Omega wasn't in heat. 

That didn't happen in the leaf village, not that he knew. 

He felt like he didn't have a purpose. What was the point in training when he was just going to be yanked out of the team when he presented. But Guy didn't give up on him. One day he realized that he decided his own fate. He would be the best shinobi in the leaf village, this way when he finally presented, they couldn't take him off the team! He would take hormone blockers to stop his heat from happening. He heard if they were taken over a large stretch of time they could impose some rather complicated affects on his reproductive system, but that was okay. He didn't need to raise any pups. People must think he was a pretty useless Omega.

***

Even in utero, Gaara was bred to be one of the most lethal weapons the Sand village, Sunagakure, had ever seen. People rushed to get out of his way, even when he was only a pup. 

"That Gaara kid? Man, I don't want to be around when he presents as Alpha." "No kidding, can you imagine how territorial he'd be?" "And he'd be given such a power advantage too!"

Gaara hated everyone in the village and he hated the impending doom that his presenting would cause. People expected him to be a ruthless killer, even before he was. Why would he be something no one expected him to be? They raised him to be a heartless assassin since he was young. When no one wanted to talk to him, or play with him. When his uncle tried to murder him. He wasn't wrong here. They were! And he hated all of them for it.

It wasn't like it was any better at home. Even in a house with two other alphas (his father and sister, his brother had yet to present yet then) it was like everyone tip toed around him. Alphas were brought to their knees in his presence. It was no wonder everyone feared him turning thirteen. 

Since that time was fast approaching it was stressful on everyone in the household. It didn't happen exactly on your thirteenth birthday, it just happened around that age. 

Gaara hated being treated this way. Like he was some ticking time bomb that was going to freak out. He hasn't met an Alpha that warranted this behavior from everyone but he supposed it was the work of Shukaku. He wondered if Shukaku was an Alpha. Probably. 

"Do you think he can still follow the plan?" He heard Baki ask his father, Rasa. He didn't stay around for the answer. They thought he was just going to go rogue and kill everyone at the Chunin Exams. 

Maybe he should. Just a fuck you to them. Gaara could control himself perfectly fine. 

Shukaku was a different story.

***

Neji liked to make small jabs at people. It was part of his personality. Lee wasn't sure if it was something he did out of affection or if he genuinely hated Lee. The second wouldn't surprise him though. Lee was used to being hated for no reason, until Guy sensei, no one treated Lee with any respect. But Guy sensei told him if he wanted respect, he was going to have to be more assertive. 

Easy coming from an Alpha, huh?

When Neji finally presented it was days before his thirteenth birthday. He was an Alpha, surprise surprise. Even not being a part of the main household in the Hyuuga clan he managed to climb further up the ranks amongst the shinobi. He was most likely going to lead his own squad one day. Lee could kiss that thought goodbye. He'd mentioned he knew he was going to be an Alpha because his chakra had been turning from white to blue. Alpha's chakra was blue, Beta's was yellow and Omega's was red. It was rumored that when you found your mate, your chakras would blend together. Like an Alpha and Omega would have purple chakra from then on. Neji was sure the Hyuuga clan could prove it but they hadn't said anything. 

Tenten was a Beta. Nothing really happened to her, only the normal puberty things for women to have. She seemed content being a Beta. Alpha didn't suit her and she was pretty happy to not be an Omega. Not like Lee.

Lee was several months late with his presentation. He knew he was a reject but being this behind? He kept his mouth shut to not be teased any further. Neji liked poking fun at him. Saying he didn't need to present because he'd been an Omega his whole life. Lee was starting to believe it.

When Guy sensei found him later that day, he'd been crying. 

"What's wrong, Lee? Has the perils of youthful love got you down?" Lee choked back a hiccuping sob.

"W-why are you so n-nice to me, Guy sensei?" Guy seemed confused at the question. "I-I'm just a dumb Omega a-and I'm going to get kicked o-off the squad a-anyway."

"Lee." Guy said sternly. Lee looked up with tears streaming down his face. "Don't talk about my star pupil that way." He scolded. Lee tilted his head. "I have never, and I mean ever, taught someone with as much promise as you."

"B-but Neji--"

"Don't you mind Neji. Neji is something different. Neji is a genius, yes. But he has something you don't. He doesn't have heart. Or determination. He can't hold a candle to you, Lee. You're special." Lee's heart almost burst with joy at the kind words from his sensei. 

"R-Really? You mean that?" He wiped his eyes on his sleeves and Guy yanked him up from the ground.

"Of course I do! Now enough of this crying nonsense! I want to see you do 500 burpees in an hour!" Lee saluted, feeling more alive than he had all day.

"Yes, sensei!" 

Guy almost sighed in relief. Truth was, he'd already been spoken to about Lee by the Hokage. The only thing keeping him on the team at this point was the fact that he still hadn't presented. After that, it was almost an impossible battle to continue training him. 

He understood why Omega weren't allowed on teams, he didn't like it though. He'd have to get over it. If Lee were an Omega, he shouldn't be on a team. He could get seriously hurt! Especially if he were to fight against other Alphas. No matter how much willpower an Omega had, they almost always responded to the voice of an Alpha. They were born to serve. And Lee shouldn't be put in that situation where an Alpha from another village were to use his body's chemistry against him. Lee was special, he was. But Guy couldn't be there to stop anything from happening. All he could do was train him as best as he could now in hopes of him defending himself on unsavory people in the future. 

***

The week of the Chunin exams was difficult. Lee felt like he was getting sick. He chose to wear his everyday green spandex suit along with a sweater. Everyone looked at him funny but didn't ask questions. Neji just smirked. 

"It looks like you're going to present soon, I can almost see your chakra turn red." He pointed out and Lee felt most of the color (which wasn't much to begin with) drain from his face. It couldn't be! He was so close to being a Chunin he could almost feel it! If only he could hold off for a few more days then he could show everyone what Omega can do. Then they would see he wasn't a force to be reckoned with, even as a lowly Omega. 

He just had to hold off for a few more days, that's it. The Chunin exams were soon so he'd be fine. He was sure of it.

He didn't notice the look of dread on Guy sensei's face. 

***

Gaara was sweating profusely which was strange since he was used to heat. It was always hot in the desert. When Temari saw him she pursed her lips and grabbed a cold cloth and handed it to him. He glared at her before taking it into his hands and putting it on his head. It felt nice but he also felt like his body was not going to cool down at any point.

Later that night he heard his sister talk to his brother.

"It's starting." She said lowly.

"Gaara? Seriously? So soon?" He seemed shocked.

"Yeah. Let's hope he can hold his temper." Gaara frowned at that. His temper wasn't terrible. 

"Yeah. Or else we're all going to be screwed." 

Gaara sat outside and looked at the moon. He didn't have much to go on with how drastically your personality or temperament would change based on what you were. He didn't see much of a difference in his siblings when they came out to be Alphas. They were still annoying. Same as before. 

He idly wondered what his mother was. She had to be an Omega. It's the only way that she would've let him put this demon inside him before he was born. She had no choice. Omega followed instructions. That's what she was doing. His father was an Alpha, so it made sense. 

He was so sick of people judging him based on things he couldn't control. It wasn't his fault that his father made him a demon. Then tried to kill him. It wasn't his fault if he were to be an Alpha. It was nature. So why was everyone judging him for it? He didn't decide to have this demon. Just like he won't decide to be an Alpha. It's just the way it is. 

The sky did nothing to soothe him that night. 

***

The day of the written exams Lee felt absolutely terrible. His whole face was red, he had three sweaters on, his head was throbbing and now his nose was so sensitive he could tell the guy across the room from the mist village ate onions 2 days ago in his breakfast. It was nauseating and he didn't understand how people dealt with this every day. 

Neji's remarks became more constant and it was off-putting. He tried his best to act normal. He'd even asked a girl out. She called him names too, though. It didn't hurt anymore. At least not as bad as it used to. He wasn't in the best shape to ask anyone out. Just like he wasn't in the best shape to fight that Sasuke guy. He still did. It was mainly to prove himself. He could tell Sasuke was an Alpha, just by looking at him. These kids should show soon, he didn't know what Naruto would be, that was up in the air. If he had to guess, based on Sakura's demeanor she would probably be an Omega. How sad, her days would be numbered as his were. Lee wondered if she knew about his fate to be an Omega and that's why she vehemently shot him down. Probably, everyone made fun of the weird kid with the big eyebrows that was going to be an Alpha's slut, why wouldn't she?

Lee scanned the room they were in right before they took the exams and his eyes fell on a redhead. He looked dangerous. Even being almost a foot shorter than Lee, he seemed like he would rip him in two.

"I mustn't think ill of myself. Guy Sensei would be disappointed in me." He told himself quietly. The redhead turned and his eyes narrowed. Lee's gaze didn't falter. If anything he stared longer. They looked at each other until the red head's eyes broke and he looked to the side to listen to what his teammate said. Lee smiled to himself. He was able to hold eye contact still so maybe he wouldn't be completely pathetic. 

***

Lee was proud of himself for passing, smug, even. He was one step closer to being a Chunin and then what could they say about him then? Nothing! He was going to ace this test and be the best Chunin in the world and it wouldn't matter.

Lee grinned despite the fact that he looked like his internal body temperature was at the boiling point. His skin was flushed, his cheeks were red, his face was dripping with sweat and his body was starting to ache. That didn't stop him though. He still had more youthful energy than Neji OR Tenten. 

"You excited there, Lee?" Tenten asked with an amused smile.

"Yes I am! We are going to win this I will make absolute sure of it." Neji perked an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Aw guys, look at the little Omega get excited."

"Hey be nice, this is the last time he can go out without his master."

"He better hope he doesn't have a heat in the forest. Who knows what'll happen then!" Lee's smile disappeared almost instantly and he stared at his feet, his eyes being covered by his bangs.

"Lee, don't listen to them..." Tenten said softly and placed her hand gently on his arm. He didn't say anything. Neji stared at the team as they walked away, they were from the mist village. 

***

"Gaara, are you sure--"

"Temari, stop talking." Gaara snapped with a growl. He was getting increasingly frustrated with his siblings. They were so worried about him going into a rut they kept pestering him about perhaps leaving the exams. Even though that would completely undermine the plans to invade the leaf village on the Kazekage's orders. It shows what they really cared about, huh?

Gaara was irritated mainly about the fact that his siblings apparently thought he was going to be such a crazy Alpha he would go on a rampage and rape everyone in the exams in his first rut. He had better self control than that. 

When the second exams finally started, Temari and Kankuro practically flew to the gate, Gaara following closely behind. They wanted to get it done as quickly as possible to get Gaara out of the forest. They could tell by his demeanor of the impending doom of his presentation. 

Gaara certainly didn't mind that they were hauling ass through the forest. Apparently they had gone through faster than anyone else had.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yo, I am so obsessed with this story rn, the third chapter should be up in like 30 minutes if that. Anyway, like I said before I'm looking for a beta!

"Lee are you sure--" Tenten started but Lee turned to scowl at her. She stepped back, surprised.

"Tenten, I assure you that I am fine. Please refrain from asking that question again." She frowned at that and rubbed her arm.

"I know, Lee. But usually before someone presents they stay at home, where it's safe. Even Alphas--"

"Do not talk to me about this, Tenten. I say I am fine. Please respect that. Let us move on." For someone in the amount of agony Lee was in, he was pushing himself right along. Neji kept staring at him, waiting for something to happen but Lee kept moving forward. He couldn't say he was surprised. That's Lee's personality. 

***

Some time two days later, Neji woke up to a trembling Lee. He was curled up on the ground in fetal position. He seemed to be asleep despite the apparent pain he was in. Sweat clung to his hair and soaked most of his clothes. This was strange. Neji had never seen a transition such as this. It seemed elongated and painful. He wondered what was taking so long. Was this what it was like being an Omega? Was this because of him working his body so hard to protect that pink haired girl from the sound nin?

Tenten sat next to Lee, rubbing his back soothingly. She gave Neji a look and Neji bit the inside of his cheek. He was nervous. How did they expect to get through the forest if Lee was messed up like this? Not only was his body exhausted from changing but he also pushed himself way too hard to fight for a girl that was completely rude to him.

"I told you I'd find him." Neji and Tenten's eyes shot up to see the intruder. It was the group from the mist village that made comments about Lee before they entered.

"What do you want?" Tenten hissed, pushing herself up into a defensive position in front of Lee.

"We want nothing to do with you. We just want that one." He pointed to Lee and Neji's eyes narrowed.

"Well you can forget about it!" Tenten shouted. "Get out of here!" She pulled out a kunai and held it up dangerously. "Leave us alone."

"Like we said, chick. We don't want you. We want the Omega." Lee grunted in his sleep. He sounded like he was in a lot of pain. "Seems like we were just in time too, he should have his heat real soon." Before they knew it they were on the ground, Neji standing above them with his Byakugan activated. "W-what the hell?! My chakra!" Neji scowled.

"Yes and I suggest you leave before I do more than just turn off all your chakra points. It would be conducive to you to do as I say. I don't like people attempting to do harm to my teammates." Tenten smiled at Neji and sat down to tend to Lee. "And while you're at it, hand over your scroll."

And that's how Team Guy managed to finish the forest on day three, even with Lee in tow. 

***

"Hey, Tenten, right?" Tenten looked up to see a blonde girl, Ino, if she remembered correctly. 

"You're one of the ninja that helped out with defending that girl that Lee likes, right?" Ino nodded and sat down next to Tenten. In the tower at the end of the second test there were several rooms meant for relaxation for the contestants who made it there. Right now they were in a quiet sitting room eating fruit that was out for the contenders. 

"I just wanted to know, how is he?" Ino asked softly. "He didn't look too good when we saw him. I know his body is going through a pretty tough change too." Tenten nodded slowly.

"Yeah, it's hard. He's been asleep since before we got here. I just hope he's awake in time for the third round of the Chunin exams." Ino looked surprised.

"You guys are letting him finish? In that state?? Seriously?" Tenten raised an eyebrow.

"We are in no position to tell Lee what he can and can't do." Ino looked embarrassed.

"That isn't what I mean. He's hurt, shouldn't he rest?" Tenten frowned.

"He may not get another chance to take the exams. That's why he's pushing himself so hard." She revealed and Ino looked confused. "He's an Omega."

"If he's an Omega then how is he here? Omega aren't allowed to be shinobi. It's too dangerous." Ino stated easily. 

"Well... He didn't present as an Omega yet. But everyone knows. It's just something you can see. And it's almost predetermined at this point. He wanted to make it to a Chunin before he was asked to step down. I think it's because he wants to prove Omega can do it too." Tenten said softly. Ino furrowed her brow.

"Doesn't he have a chance to not present as Omega? He could be a beta." She offered and Tenten shook her head.

"He's already going through the change. His body is exhausted. I've never seen someone go through this much, especially a Beta. I'm a Beta and it was nothing. I guess this is his body changing to carry pups or something." Ino nodded, it made sense but it was so sad.

"I saw him fight. He was great." The way Ino was talking made it seem like Lee was dead and they were paying their respects to his memory. Even so, Tenten agreed.

"You should see him fight when he's not like this. He's so fast. He really is amazing at taijutsu." The second it left her lips she got an overwhelming feeling of sadness. 

***

"Do you think Gaara can hold off until the third part of the exams?" Temari asked Kankuro as they split an orange.

"Don't worry about that. Baki told us the third part of the exams isn't until next month. We'll be fine. Ruts only last a few days, anyway." Temari shook her head.

"No, they last a couple days if you have an Omega in heat too. Ruts last a week by yourself." It slipped Kankuro's mind but now that he remembered, he nodded. "Gaara in a rut doesn't sound like something I want to be there for." Kankuro shivered at the image.

"Gross, my little bro looking for sex. Not something I want to think about." Temari glared at him.

"Not like that. But think about how the mind works during a rut. How can we be sure that he stays level headed or even awake to keep Shukaku at bay?" Kankuro hadn't thought of that either. He looked down at his feet.

"We find him an Omega?" Temari looked at him incredulously. "Don't give me that look! Hey, didn't you hear about that hidden leaf ninja that everyone is saying is an Omega?" He grinned at his discovery. "Why don't we put them together?" Temari seemed thoughtful.

"There's no way he would agree to being Gaara's Omega." She declared and Kankuro raised an eyebrow.

"Who says we're asking?" Temari scowled at him. "No, not like that. But what Omega can turn down an Alpha. Especially an Omega in heat. Even if he says no initially, he won't after Gaara tells him to. Simple body chemistry."

"That is so prejudiced." Temari deadpanned and Kankuro rolled his eyes at her.

"Well whatever. You know I'm right. You'll thank me later when Gaara isn't going completely apeshit crazy to knot everything in his way now that he has a target. What's the kid's name again?"

"Lee? Rock Lee I think?" Kankuro smirked at his sister.

"Why don't you and I go pay our buddy Rock Lee a visit?"

***

The room dedicated to sleeping was essentially empty besides Lee in the corner of the room. He didn't seem like he was sleeping well and he soaked through the blanket he had. Temari and Kankuro exchanged a look and walked over to the sleeping boy. Temari frowned.

"Poor kid. Looks tough." She commented quietly. 

"Thank god Gaara didn't have it this bad. If he were knocked out cold for a few days, who knows what'd happen." Temari agreed. They didn't have time to deal with Shukaku.

"What are you two doing?" They turned their heads to see the Hyuuga kid, the one on Neji's team. 

"Don't get your panties in a bunch. We want nothing to do with your Omega." Temari rolled her eyes and stared back down at him. "I just have never seen anyone go through this much to transition, is all." She stared at Neji and smirked. "You're an Alpha. Did you have this much of a hard time?" Neji frowned.

"It doesn't matter how my transitioning went. All that matters to me is that you leave my teammate alone. He has much resting to do before the end of the day." Kankuro rolled his eyes at Neji and started to walk away from Lee.

"Just tell the poor kid to give up. Even if he becomes a Chunin, nothing good will come of it." With that, the two sand shinobi left the room. Neji stared at Lee on the bed. He walked over and Lee opened his eyes. It looked like he was struggling to do so.

"I-I will become... the greatest ninja." He vowed, but Neji didn't think he was completely awake. His eyes seemed glazed over. Neji's nose twitched. Lee smelled weird but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Go back to sleep, Lee. The exams end in a few hours. I will be back to get you then."

***

All the teams were lined up perfectly in a big opened room as the proctors talked to them. Lee wanted to feel relieved that the third part wasn't for another month but he was also very nervous that he wouldn't be able to participate.

Gaara was getting testier and testier. His sand was in a constant cloud around him thumping along with his pulse. His teeth were perpetually clenched and he didn't understand how he was going to make it. This went further beyond his bloodlust. Usually he just felt like he had to kill in order to be alive himself. Right now he couldn't even concentrate on that mantra. He was swimming in his thoughts and not knowing how to place them. It seemed the Lee kid was going through the same thing but he looked worse. Gaara was able to front like he wasn't about to pass out. He felt like his organs were being ripped apart from within but still he stood straight and tall.

He wondered if it always took this long, and why it took that long to begin with. 

Guy and watched from further away. Guy was honestly surprised that Lee was still standing up. He was so proud, but he wanted Lee to know he could just walk away now. It would be okay. His body wasn't up for this! Thank the Hokage that Lee made it out of that forest alive, and didn't cost the life of his teammates. Guy heard that they ran into some trouble but he knew his team, they never disappointed! He was so proud he was practically glowing. Until he remembered how terrible Lee looked.

"Well. This is interesting. We have way too many teams left over so it seems like we'll have to do a preliminary match." The proctor said, multiple objections were made. Practically everyone was shouting but he didn't honestly care. "Listen, these tests were supposed to weed you down to only a few people. Looks like they went easy on you this year. Not my problem. But we are doing the preliminaries so everyone listen up. Behind me is a board that will tell you who is facing who. All you have to do is see if your name is there and if it's not, evacuate the floor and go up top to the balconies to watch until it's your turn."

"Wait- we don't get to rest?! We just got here!" Sakura yelled and the proctor. Hayete frowned at her.

"That isn't a concern. If you don't wish to fight right now, you absolutely have the right. And by doing so, you are forfeiting the competition." There were several cries of rage but he went in with his monologue. "The rules are simple. There are none. The winner is chosen if the other dies, or gives up. Although if a fight looks hopeless, I will step in to save a life. Now let's get on with the fights. First match is... Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi. If your name is neither of these, please see yourself off the floor."

***

"Guy sensei, I don't think Lee should fight." Tenten finally voiced her concerns and Guy stared at her and sighed. "You don't understand, he's so weak and he's not well. He hasn't eaten in a few days and he can barely stand on his own--"

"Tenten, I know. I was going to have a talk with him but I realized it's pointless. You and I are different from Lee. He's special. He doesn't know how to give up. And I promise that I will intervene in his fight if he needs me to but I can't stop him." Tenten looked distraught and went to reason with him but Guy put up his hand to stop her. "I know. But if he loses, he will lose knowing he tried instead of giving up. Let him have that, Tenten." She stopped arguing and frowned but understood.

"Neji and I are just worried about him..." Her voice trailed off and both of them stared at Lee from a slight distance. He was holding on to the railing intently watching the fight. He still looked terrible and he got worse as the minutes rolled by. But he had a smile on his face. That's all that mattered. 

***

"See that Lee kid, Gaara?" Kankuro jerked his head slightly in Lee's direction. 

"What about him?" Gaara's eyes narrowed. The boy was in a sweatshirt that looked several sizes too big and his face was flushed and sweaty. He looked like he just ran a marathon through Sunagakure.

"We heard from the grapevine that he's an Omega." This seemed to surprise Gaara, Kankuro let himself smirk slightly. "He hasn't presented yet but as you can see, he's close." Gaara's nose twitched and he scented the air looking for Lee. 

He caught scent of something soft, but smelled _so fucking good_. He couldn't place what it smelled like, all he knew was the smell stirred up his insides. Kankuro gave Temari a grin and she smiled back.

"What do you know about him?" Gaara asked, kind of possessively. He looked at Kankuro intently and Kankuro was more than happy to supply the answers. He'd gotten some information off of Kabuto before he quit, Kabuto seemed all too happy to give any information to Kankuro for Gaara's sake.

"His name is Rock Lee, from the Hidden leaf village. He doesn't seem to have any ninjutsu or genjutsu. He's strictly taijutsu. He's a bit older than you, maybe by a year. Everyone has been saying since he was young that he was going to be an Omega and he's a bit of an oddball. He's over a half a year late with his transition but hey, better late than never, huh?" Gaara stared intently at Lee, he couldn't shake the feeling of avariciousness he felt towards the other. 

"He's mine." Gaara growled and Kankuro's grin got bigger. He sent Temari a gloating look and she smiled but rolled her eyes at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You seriously have no idea how excited I am to post the third chapter. That's when they meet face to face!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited for this chapter! Thank you all for reading!

***

Gaara got increasingly more frustrated as time went on. His nose was getting more sensitive by the second. He didn't know he could smell people this distinctly from across an arena.

Zaku and Shino fought, Gaara could swear he could smell each individual bug Shino had. It was disgusting. As much as Kankuro didn't want to show his mirth at Gaara's misfortune, he couldn't help it. He remembered when he was just about to present, his scenting abilities were through the roof. Luckily they settle down later on but as of now, he wasn't surprised to see the look of disgust on Gaara's face.

The next fight was Kankuro vs. Misumi, some guy from the "leaf" village that Gaara knew better. He hated the sound village and had no idea why they were currently fighting for them. He didn't pretend to understand power like that. What did he know about being Kazekage?

"Temari." He grit out after Sakura and Ino's fight, which was possibly the lamest fight he'd ever witnessed. Temari rushed to his side. Something was off about him. Something wasn't right.

"Are you okay?" She asked, almost breathlessly. The pain in his abdomen was unreal. He clenched his teeth tighter, almost positive that he would break them. His sand was slowly pouring out of his gourd and circling around his feet, wanting to protect him, but there was nothing to protect him from.

"What. Is. Happening?" He was breathing heavily and he held onto the bar until his knuckles were white. Temari stared at him helplessly. She couldn't remember this much pain, she'd heard some boys had it tougher. She couldn't answer him or console him. She had to go fight Tenten. Whoever the hell that was...

***

Lee saw Gaara from across the arena. He knew those looks of pain as well. He had been warned that Gaara was going through his transition too. He wondered what would happen with them, all he heard was Gaara was this powerful shinobi that was destined to be one of the strongest Alphas. 

Lee hated him. Not for any other reason but jealousy. He wanted to be a powerful Alpha. It wasn't fair. And as time went on he could feel himself hating Gaara less and less. They were both in the same boat. 

Tenten lost, miserably. Lee wanted to be there for her but he couldn't bring himself to actually move. He was sitting down now, curled up basically, staring at Gaara wondering if he felt the same pain. Even from here he could see the heavy breathing. And Lee concentrated for just a second and got a whiff of the most wonderful smell but just like that it was gone.

He stared at Gaara through the entirety of the fight with Shikamaru and Kin. He wondered if he smelled Gaara just then. It was possible, since Gaara didn't completely transition, it would explain the subtle bursts of what he smelled instead a constant stream of it. 

As he stared at Gaara, he couldn't help it. An overwhelming feeling of mine set in his mind and body. He didn't know why or what it was. But he ached to be closer to Gaara.

***

Lee was looking at him. He could tell that much. Gaara couldn't even find slight satisfaction with that. He was pretty sure his insides were bleeding at this point. His sand was almost a tornado by his feet. It was getting antsy, just like he was. 

Kiba vs. Naruto was an interesting fight but one he couldn't pay attention to. His heart was racing and his eyes widened when he ran his tongue under his teeth and cut his tongue. When did he get fangs? Why were they so sharp? He looked over at his siblings, for once actually needing their help. He felt useless, it made him angry.

"T-temari." Temari was at his side in an instant. He opened his mouth and her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Gaara, I don't know if you can fight. You are so close." She sounded concerned but that wasn't what Gaara wanted to hear. He needed to see Lee fight. He ignored he pleas and eventually she stopped.

***

When Neji was fighting Hinata he smirked at her after activating his Byakugan. he could see her white chakra tinting slightly pinkish. No doubt she was an Omega. He could've told anyone that.

The fight was easy enough, although he was getting increasingly frustrated when she kept getting up because that nuisance, Naruto. But eventually the fight ended, he won as he knew he would.

What he didn't expect was looking up and seeing Lee. 

Neji's face dropped.

***

It was finally Lee's turn to fight. It was here. His heart was in his throat. He was fighting Gaara. Why did the universe like playing tricks on him. 

"Lee, you don't have to do this if you don't want to. No one will think any less of you--" Guy's speech went unresponded to and Lee jumped down to the arena. Neji just missed him. "Neji are you--"

"I cannot believe this." He was breathless.

"Neji what happened?" Neji activated his byakugan again, wondering if he was just sensing everyone elses chakra. "Neji?"

But what Neji just saw made him question if destiny was even real.

***

Gaara stood across from Lee. Both of them were panting like they'd been fighting. Everyone who was on the sidelines leaned in. Both of them were so close to being done with their transition and had no energy left but this was easily the most exciting match to watch.

It started two minutes ago and both contenders stood there, breathing heavily. Lee was the first to move, it was slow though. And suddenly he collapsed, he was too close to Gaara and Gaara smelled just so fucking good. He was on his hands and knees and looked up, Gaara was a few feet away, his arms uncrossed and his eyes hazed. They both felt a burst of chakra through their veins.

 _Mine. Mineminemine._ Lee pulled himself up and walked closer to Gaara. Much to everyone's surprise, Gaara took a step back. Lee's scent was overwhelming. 

" _Don't you dare move._ " Lee hissed and Gaara stopped, and looked up into Lee's eyes. Everyone watching was floored.

"Did he just tell Gaara what to do?" "What the hell is going on?" "Did Gaara listen to him?"

***

"Neji...?" Guy asked and Neji couldn't help but laugh. 

He watched the fight start, Lee and Gaara standing apart from each other. But their chakra was purple. There was bursts of purple chakra hidden in their white chakra. But after Lee fell to the ground was when he could tell for sure. 

Lee had a large burst of blue chakra and Gaara's red chakra evenly matched the amount Lee let off.

"Lee is an alpha." Neji said with an amazed look on his face. He shook his head in disbelief. "Gaara is the Omega." Guy looked floored as he stared at his star pupil, standing a few feet away from one of the strongest genin he knew about. "That's not all." Neji said and caught the attention of everyone around him.

"Lee is an alpha?" Sakura whispered to herself, amazed.

"What else is there, Neji?" Naruto put their feud on hold and Neji shook his head not believing what he was seeing.

"The closer the two get to each other, the bigger the overlap of their chakra. As you know, with Byakugan I see their chakras as colors. Alpha is blue, which is what I'm seeing with Lee, and Omega is red, which is what I'm seeing with Gaara. But when their chakra overlaps it turns purple." Guy let out a noise of surprise.

"What?" Even Kakashi seemed shocked.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked and Neji nodded. 

"What the hell does that even mean?" Naruto asked loudly and Sakura shook her head.

"You've never heard the stories of mates? True mates?" Sakura asked an Naruto looked confused. "When two people mate their chakras blend together. This rarely happens before they mate though. This is something special."

"So, this means bushy brow and that creepy sand ninja belong together?" Naruto looked really lost. Sakura nodded.

"Who knew?"

***

"Are you seeing this, Kankuro?!" Temari gasped. 

"Gaara is acting like an Omega? Are you kidding me?" Kankuro was completely surprised. "But... he was supposed to be an Alpha..." He offered quietly. Temari smiled, somewhat relieved.

"It looks like he might be easier to control than we thought."

***

Gaara's body was on fire. He was trembling, he couldn't calm himself down. Lee stood just a few feet away and he had to stop himself from sprinting to him. His body seemed to pull towards Lee and he couldn't help it. It hurt to stand still but he refused to move. When Lee took another step closer, Gaara felt like weight was being lifted. He just needed him to be closer.

"Come here." Lee said quietly. The proctor was getting ready to stop the fight but he was curious to see the end result. Gaara stood in place, sweat trickling down his forehead. It hurt so bad to go against an Alpha's command. _His_ Alpha's commands. "Come here." Lee said with more force. It send shivers down his spine.

Everyone was watching them, wondering if Gaara would give in and walk to Lee but he couldn't let himself move. He then started to feel an interesting sensation start in his feet. It traveled up his legs and pooled in his abdomen. He felt mortified once he realized he was getting aroused. 

"Gaara." Lee tested his name, to see how it felt on his lips. His body responded almost instantly. The room seemed darker. Gaara's knees buckled, but he kept the same passive face on. "Do you not want me?" The question was spoken so softly, unlike any Alpha Gaara had heard.

Gaara could smell the despair that Lee felt. It was such a strong smell. Did he really believe that Gaara didn't want him? Could he not smell his arousal? Gaara decided there was time for his pride when it didn't mean hurting his Alpha's feelings. 

Everyone waited for Gaara to move but the second he started walking towards Lee, the battle was stopped and Hayate and Guy stood in between them. 

"Guy sensei?" Lee seemed confused. Like he forgot anyone else was in their world. "What are you doing?"

"Lee, we can't allow this battle to continue. It's too dangerous." Lee's eyes narrowed and it startled Guy considerably.

"Just because I'm an Omega--"

"Lee." Guy cut off, confused that Lee couldn't tell on his own. "Lee you're not an Omega. You're an Alpha. Gaara is an Omega. We have to stop the fight for his safety. You're in your first rut and he's in his first heat. We need to get you two out of here." The smell of a rut and heat together wasn't the most pleasant thing. Thankfully most of the attendees weren't of age so couldn't smell it. 

"But will this mean I lost?" Lee asked quietly and Guy smiled.

"No. You're fine. Gaara will be disqualified." Lee's body felt cold. He stared at Gaara who was looking at him with an indescribable emotion on his face and all he felt was dread. Gaara was so powerful and they're going to disqualify him?? Simply because he was an Omega??

"No! You are not disqualifying Gaara." Lee ground out to the proctor. "I will not let you!"

"Lee, it's too dangerous for him--"

"Gaara is one of the most powerful shinobi I have ever seen! And It is not fair that you would do this to him! Is this what my fate would be as well? I quit. Gaara can have my place!" Guy's eyes widened.

"Lee, are you sure--"

"This may be his only chance to become a Chunin. I cannot take that from him. I can always try again." Lee looked over at Gaara, he didn't notice the sand was the only thing keeping him standing. 

"Lee, we can't--" Lee's eyes were practically on fire.

"Fix it." Guy was in shock. He'd never seen Lee this way. He really hoped he'd eventually go back to normal when he was out of his rut.

"Come on Lee, let's go." Guy started to lead Lee out of the room.

"I'm not leaving without Gaara." Guy stared down at Lee feeling even more surprise. Lee never talked back to him in such a way. He looked over at Gaara who was struggling to even be standing there. He was clenching his abdomen and breathing heavily. For someone who looked so terrifying before, right now he just looked pitiful.

"No, Lee." Guy put his foot down and started to drag Lee out of the room. There was a murmur of 'what is he doing?' 'can he do that?' coming from the balconies. Lee felt like he was physically in pain watching the look of despair on Gaara's face.

"Lee!" He looked panicked and Lee couldn't stop his mind from racing.

_My Omega needs me. My mate. Mine. Need Omega. Mate._

"I can't let you go, Lee!" Guy shouted and Lee turned to face Guy sensei with the angriest face Guy had ever seen. He knew that getting in between the two would be dangerous but Lee was only 13 years old. He couldn't allow him to mate already! He was so young.

"What the hell are you doing?" Temari shouted, standing next to Gaara trying to help him stand. Lee's eyes narrowed.

_Get off my mate. Get off of him._

"These two are way too young to be mating!" Guy interjected and Lee was squirming against him, trying to get to Gaara.

"Guy sensei, they're true mates. This is rare." Neji butt in and Temari and Kankuro looked at him in surprise.

"They're true mates?" Kankuro repeated, here he thought he was just setting up Gaara with a rut buddy... or a heat buddy he supposed now.

"Yes. I can see their chakra. When they overlap it becomes purple. But enough of that, what you're doing right now is very dangerous. You need to remember that." Neji looked at Guy straight in the eyes and Guy held his ground.

"I appreciate the concern but I know what's best for Lee. And it isn't being mated at 13." A few hang signs later and Lee and Guy disappeared. Gaara's eyes widened and he lunged forward, falling in the process. 

"Lee!" His voice cracked and his body started to shake like he was going through withdrawals.

"What an idiot!" Temari shrieked and tried to help Gaara off the ground. "Gaara calm down." Temari tried her best but as he got more desperate, he got angrier and his sand whipped through the air like razor blades. "We need to get him some place safe." The medical nin nodded and went to help him up and his sand created a barrier. He was staring at the spot Lee was, huffing, his blood boiling. His pants were damp with his slick and he just wanted his mate and he was taken from him.

"Everyone, you need to get away from him. We'll fix this." Kakashi demanded. "Come on Gaara, let's find Lee." Gaara stared up at Kakashi angrily but pushed himself up and took agonizing steps forwards, wincing in pain as he did so. 

If Gaara saw Guy again, he would kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously tho, since this story is literally being written as we speak I would love some feedback. Let me know what you like and what you don't like!
> 
> It's so effing hard keeping Omega!Gaara in character. Even Alpha!Lee. Just know their personalities will go back when they're not in heat/rut.


	4. Chapter 4

"Guy!" Guy turned around to be faced with Kakashi.

"Keep walking, Kakashi, this doesn't concern you." 

"Guy! This doesn't concern you! None of this. You can't get in between this. You're hurting everybody this way." Kakashi tried to reason, Guy's eyes narrowed.

"You think I'm going to stand by and watch Lee get mated to that... monster?" It was then that Kakashi noticed that Lee was nowhere to be found. "Don't worry about him. I gave him a sedative. He can't think rationally in this condition. You know this, Kakashi. I'm not doing this because I want to butt in. I'm doing it because he is just a kid, damn it! You aren't mated and neither am I and we're adults. He needs to slow down."

"Not everyone meets their destined mate--"

"Yes. Exactly. Especially so soon. He needs to enjoy life before he does any of this." Kakashi sighed. Guy wouldn't see reason. 

"Guy, you aren't Lee's father. You don't have--"

"You're right I'm not his father! Where is his father? I'm the closest thing he has. I care about Lee more than myself. He's not my son but I look at him as a son." They both heard a groan and when they turned their head, Lee was standing there, swaying back and forth.

"Gaara..." He mumbled and walked forwards and tripped.

"We need to get him to Gaara, Guy. This is incredibly naive and selfish of you. I thought you were foolish before but I didn't know you to put your student's life in danger. You know this could seriously negatively impact him." But Guy wouldn't budge.

***

The next few days was rough. Lee was locked in a room so he didn't seek out Gaara and he was angry, anxious, and incredibly horny all in one. He didn't think he was possible of trashing the room but he did. And when he fell asleep for those few short hours, he woke up and it was cleaned again. 

He stared at the door in despair. What if Gaara thought he rejected him? What if he found another mate? Lee didn't know he could growl but that thought always got him riled up. 

The toughest part was his knot. He didn't think it would be so... just weird. Near the base of his cock would swell up, he'd never seen a knot before so he didn't know what to expect. All he wanted was to slide it into Gaara and...

Lee's face turned red. Even though he was in a rut he still had some control over his thoughts. He couldn't believe he was even picturing that! Gaara didn't deserve to be objectified in that way! A wave of shame hit Lee like a ton of bricks but still his erection throbbed between his legs. 

But... Gaara was his mate so was it really objectifying him? Or just picturing what he would do when he saw him again? Lee shivered and laid down on the bed face down. He couldn't handle this feeling anymore. He couldn't remember how long ruts lasted because he'd never studied them. He was supposed to be an Omega. He wondered if heats were easier to deal with. He read about them. He studied how to get through a heat. It seemed easy but he could probably guess that it was harder than text let him believe. 

He groaned when a wave of lust rolled over him and he jerked his hips forward. He couldn't stand this feeling. He wondered if he finally gave in and touched himself if the feeling would go away.

He wrapped his hand above his knot and jerked it, slowly at first just to test it. All he could think about was Gaara. _GaaraGaaraGaara._ He thought about what Gaara was doing right now. Usually they gave Omegas fake knots to get through heats. Lee felt jealousy burn his heart. He should be there with Gaara. Not some fake knot. But just imagining Gaara's face being pleasured by it was enough to send him over the edge.

Lee was breathing heavily, staring down at the mess he made and frowned at his lack of self control. What was even worse than that was figuring out that touching himself just made him want it more.

***

Gaara sat in a dark room, panting heavily and sweating. They weren't kidding when they called this heat. He felt like he was burning. And nothing he did made him feel any better. Was this torture? Why were Omegas forced to go through this so frequently. Alphas didn't rut very often, so why did Omegas have to suffer. 

To make matters worse, Shukaku wouldn't stop talking in his mind. Teasing him about it all. He hated it. He didn't even have a bed, he stayed on the floor on a blanket, one that was currently soaking wet with slick. He writhed on the floor in pain and in need. He was still angry at Guy for taking away Lee but there was nothing he could do now. His mind kept picturing Lee sliding inside him though and he was aching for it to actually happen.

Why were Omega so pathetic? Gaara scowled. Hopefully this heat will pass. 

***

"Lee!" Lee turned his head and saw Tenten and Neji run up to him. He gave them a halfhearted wave. He was different. It had been about 6 days since the chunin exam preliminaries and he was finally well enough to be outside and in public. He was extremely embarrassed with how he composed himself and hoped no one would take offense to if he acted harshly. 

"Hello Tenten, Neji." He nodded at them and Tenten had the biggest smile on her face.

"How does it feel being an Alpha?" She asked and Lee looked at his feet. Truthfully he didn't feel different. And ever since being separated from Gaara he became increasingly depressed. He shrugged at the question and Tenten's smile disappeared. When Lee looked up he noticed Neji had activated his Byakugan. 

"Your chakra. It's blue." He noted and released his Byakugan. Lee shrugged again.

"Guy sensei, huh?" Tenten asked softly and Lee sighed.

"I will be turning 14 soon, which is good. However Guy sensei believes me to be too young to mate. I agree with him in a way. It is rather silly of me to get worked up over someone I know nothing of but I cannot seem to stop thinking about him." Lee sighed and Tenten exchanged a look with Neji.

"Lee... We know you idol Guy Sensei but why are you listening to him about this? It's your life. And you and Gaara are true mates- Neji saw it." Lee shook his head. 

"It does not matter. I should not proceed with this. I'm just going to wait." He walked passed them without another word. Tenten and Neji exchanged another look but said nothing.

***

"Gaara. Throwing a fit isn't going to get you what you want." Temari called out over the noise of sand whipping around like tendrils. Gaara ignored her. He was angry. His heat was finally over and Lee didn't look for him _once_. He was furious. He wanted to wreck havoc and Temari was angry that he was doing so inside. 

For once he listened to her and left the house, his sand in tow. He was so furious and bloodthirsty. He just wanted to _kill_ someone. So he stormed towards the woods. No use in getting himself thrown out of the village by killing civilians. He could compose himself for a while longer.

He noticed people looked at him strangely. Like _what is that Omega doing walking around with all that power?_ He'd like to see someone say something to him. He could almost dare them. 

No one did. What a bummer. 

When he got to the woods he couldn't smell anything but his sand. It was such an overwhelming smell of blood. His sand whirled around his body. He just let his frustrations out. His sand flew around uncontrollably. He didn't even notice it grabbed hold of someone until he heard a scream. 

Gaara would've smiled had he not scented Lee.

 _Lee?!_

Gaara actually sprinted towards the source of the agonizing scream. When he got to the other clearing he noticed Lee on the ground, tears streaming down his face. All his anger for the boy dissipated immediately. He rushed over not knowing what to do. All he knew was his mate was hurt and _he caused the pain._

"Lee..." Lee looked up and stared at Gaara with pain filled eyes. "I didn't mean to..."

"Need... Medical..." Lee practically sobbed and Gaara instantly transported them using his sand jutsu to the hospital. He grabbed a medical nin as they walked by and pointed to Lee.

"Help him." He demanded and the medical nin stared at him incredulously. He couldn't believe an Omega was giving him orders but when he looked down at Lee, He quickly got a team together and they rushed him to a room. Gaara tried to follow but was promptly told they had to assess the situation first and he would just be in the way.

Gaara didn't know he could still feel helpless.

***

Shattered arm. Shattered leg. He may never be a shinobi again. 

Lee stared blankly at the wall in front of him. He just couldn't believe it. He worked so hard to get where he was, and then presented as an Alpha and still he had his dream taken away from him. He was so angry!

His nose was still incredibly sensitive so he was able to scent out that Gaara was still in the building. He looked around the room and saw no one. He wondered if Gaara would come in at all. Lee couldn't control his anger. _His Omega did this to him_. Not some random stranger in a fight. Gaara did this. He just couldn't believe it. 

The rational part in his mind told him to calm down, Gaara didn't do that on purpose but he shut that part up quickly with the thought of him never becoming a shinobi!

Suddenly Gaara's scent got stronger and Lee looked over and saw him standing there in the doorway. It was weird seeing his expression so clearly on his face. The entire time he had watched Gaara, he noticed that he didn't have much expressions. This time, he looked pained.

"I'm sorry... Alpha." Gaara bowed his head slightly. Lee's heart beat quickly, he felt a twinge of arousal and he wanted his Omega with him. 

_He's not my Omega. We aren't bonded._

Lee frowned at the thought. Gaara was his, he was right there calling him Alpha. Something Lee thought he would never hear. Him? An Alpha? He almost couldn't believe it. But there they were, Alpha and Omega, his Omega was so apologetic he could smell it rolling off him in waves.

"Leave." Lee said quietly and Gaara looked up, a sharp stabbing pain through his body. "I don't want you, Omega."

Lee almost recanted when he smelled the pain and despair in the air. Gaara's face covered up his emotions rather quickly, but Lee's nose didn't lie. Especially when it came to smelling out Gaara. He looked away at the wall, trying his best not to look into Gaara's eyes which had now hardened of all emotion. 

There was no begging. There was nothing that would've told him he just rejected an Omega.

Nothing but the pain he felt and the pain he knew Gaara felt. And man, did it hurt like a bitch.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. my work hours are obnoxious. In any case, enjoy.
> 
> And if you have any ideas or anything you'd like to see happen, hit me up. I'd love to hear it.

Over the next few weeks, Rock Lee tried his hardest to heal himself. He wasn't going to be told he couldn't be a shinobi, that was his dream. 

Guy Sensei would visit every day and cheer him on. Even Sakura would bring him flowers which was nice. All he really wanted to know, however was if Gaara was okay. 

Lee wasn't doing so well after he rejected his Omega. He knew he was depressed but everyone assumed it was because his arm and leg were shattered. No matter how much he wanted to hold a grudge against Gaara, he couldn't. He didn't mean to do it. And the thought made his heart ache. He didn't dare ask Guy Sensei how Gaara had been doing or even if they allowed him to compete in the finals for the Chunin Exams. That's why it was such a relief when Neji walked in. He knew Neji would give him everything straight, Guy liked to dance around certain questions if he thought Lee shouldn't dwell on them.

"You seem to be fairing well." Neji commented and Lee sighed. It was hard to walk with his crutch. If only his arm and leg were broken on opposing sides, at least then it wouldn't be so difficult to hold the crutch. 

"The Chunin Exams... When is it?" He looked up at Neji who smirked at the question.

"Three days. Why? Think you can make it?" He asked and Lee furrowed his brow at the question.

"I am in it?" He asked and Neji shook his head.

"No you quit, remember? Plus, I doubt they would let you in, in that condition. I meant, are you attending as a guest?" Lee looked down at the floor, wanting to ask so many questions but not finding it in himself to voice them. "Gaara is fighting Sasuke." Lee's head whipped up.

"He's what?" Lee sounded so desperate, Neji almost laughed. 

"Since you quit, there was really nothing they could do. He's going to fight Sasuke, I think it's the second match. Everyone is talking about it. It's going to be a huge event. Gaara is apparently really powerful and everyone is freaking out about the last Uchiha fighting. It doesn't help that word got around that Gaara is an Omega. There's some brain-dead Alphas that talked about bonding to him. I guess it's a power kick if they can get someone that strong to submit to them." Lee bared his teeth and let out a growl. Neji tilted his head to the side. It was so weird seeing Lee this way.

"Have they tried?" He spit out and Neji smirked at the question.

"If they have, none of them have been successful. Gaara's got quite the defense. No one could get within 10 feet of him without his sand whipping them around. Plus, he's angry. Not many people go near him. Not that they did before, but he seems to be alone more now anyway." Lee felt some satisfaction in that. 

However something disturbed him when he realized how much he wanted to knot Gaara and have pups with him. Moreover, seeing Gaara submit to him and carrying _his_ pups. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind. 

He didn't like being an Alpha.

***

Kankuro was amazed with how many Alphas actually thought they could get Gaara to bow down to them. Even as an Omega, Gaara had the self control of an Alpha. The cold glare he would cast on anyone who got too close. He was pretty sure Gaara might've killed or at least severely hurt several of his suitors. 

Why did they even think they were in the same league as Gaara?

Gaara had been acting funny since Lee was brought to the hospital. He'd always been quiet but this was ridiculous. Gaara didn't utter one word to anyone. He was rarely even around. 

"What do you think Lee said to him?" Kankuro asked and Temari glanced up.

"What?"

"Lee. What do you think he said to Gaara? He's been acting funny since Lee was sent to the hospital." Temari shrugged.

"Maybe he's upset Lee got hurt? I don't know. Gaara isn't exactly an easy person to understand." Kankuro nodded and sighed.

"Who would've thought of all people, Gaara would be the one to find a soul mate." He laughed ironically. "I wouldn't bet on that."

"Yeah, neither would I. I wonder how he feels about it..." Temari trailed off when Gaara walked through the door. He was sweating, paler than normal and all around awful looking. "Gaara?" Temari stood up and slowly walked towards her brother.

"What. Is happening?" He grit out with clenched teeth.

"Well. What... What happened with you and Lee?" Temari stuttered out and he glared at her.

"Nothing." He said in a clipped tone. Temari frowned.

"Gaara, I can't help you if I don't know what happened." She said softly and he snapped.

"Nothing. Literally nothing." He was breathing heavily, chest rising up and down quickly. "He said..." He scowled. "He said _I don't want you, Omega._ Now tell me what is going on?" Temari let in a small gasp. Kankuro even looked shocked. _"What?"_

"Gaara... I'm so sorry--"

"I didn't ask for your pity. I asked you what _is happening to me?_ " Temari sighed and looked down.

"Well... I can't be 100% sure but---"

"So I told you for no reason?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying. Please, let me finish." Gaara actually let her. "I can't be sure because cases like this are so rare. With both finding a soul mate and rejecting one. But it might be because you two aren't close together. It's putting a toll on your body. I've even hear it could result... with less than pleasant results." Gaara gave her an expecting look. "Death. But don't worry! That usually happens only if you've bonded first. You two have only let maybe half of your chakra overlap, so it shouldn't be too bad."

"This isn't _too bad_?" Temari sighed and shrugged.

"You could be dead." Kankuro and Temari would never be able to fully prepare themselves for Gaara's next comment.

"Without Lee, I might as well be." With that he walked out of the room, Temari and Kankuro no longer had the urge to talk.

***

"Hey Lee..." Lee looked up and Sakura was there with another daisy. 

"Hello, Sakura. How are you?" She smiled in response but when she examined his face she frowned.

"I'm okay but what's wrong with you? Do your wounds hurt?" She asked and Lee looked downcast and gave a heavy sigh. "Lee?"

"I... I rejected Gaara. And ever since... It hurts. Everything just hurts." Sakura looked surprised.

"You rejected Gaara? Why? I know he's kind of scary but you two are soul mates. That's really rare, not to mention you're risking never being able to bond with anyone else, once you meet your soul mate, your body won't accept another person. Are you sure that's what you want?" The look on his face made her realize he knew he'd made a mistake.

"It is not. But he did this to me." Sakura looked surprised. "It was not his fault. He did not know I was there but he still did this to me and now I am useless. I thought it was bad enough when I was an Omega. Now I am an Alpha and I cannot protect anyone, let alone the person I care for the most... But Gaara and I... We barely know each other. So I thought it would not hurt this bad but it does and now I am scared and I... I just don't know." With a resigned look he looked down at his broken form on the bed. "I am no good this way and even though I rejected him because I was angry, I do not regret it. Gaara is a very powerful Omega and he does not need me dragging him down. He will find another mate."

"Lee... I'm sorry Gaara hurt you. But I just told you, he can't. You're his soul mate. It's you or no one." Lee bit his lip. "But if that's what you want to do... I can't stop you. Just so you know, in order to feel better, you two just have to be close to each other. Just close enough for your chakra to register that you're there. Nothing more than that. It will make your body feel a lot better." Sakura smiled at him and Lee smiled in response.

Sometimes he wished he was just a Beta. Then maybe he could've been with someone sweet like her.

***

"Gaara!" Temari called when Gaara walked through the front door. "I just wanted to let you know there is a way to make yourself feel better. It's only a temporary fix though." Gaara stared at her waiting for a response. "You need to be in the same room as him and it'll reset your body and you'll feel better for a few days."

"And if I don't?"

"Well... I know you're going to be in pain, I just don't know how long." Gaara nodded at her and walked towards the rooms.

"Do you think he's going to go?" Kankuro asked and Temari sighed.

"I honestly don't know what's going on with him anymore."

***

Lee woke up the next day, for the first time in a while he felt great! His body was responding like normal and he wasn't in any pain. 

The smile, however, quickly went when he realized why he felt better. He looked around for Gaara but didn't see him. He walked over to the window, limping and stared outside. He wasn't anywhere to be seen. He supposed Gaara felt the same way that he did. Lee wondered how long they could keep this up before he broke and begged Gaara to be his Omega.

But the thought of Gaara stopping in on him while he was asleep made him smile slightly.

***

"Lee! Are you ready!" Lee blinked a few times, staring at Guy Sensei who seemed entirely too chipper today.

"What is going on?" Lee asked and Guy ripped the covers off from Lee's bed and threw a new change of clothes at him.

"Oh Lee! You're so funny! Like I would think you forgot today was the second part of the Chunin Exams!" Lee's eyes widened. "Oh, wait. You weren't kidding?"

"Guy Sensei! The Chunin Exams are today?! I totally forgot! Oh my goodness! We have to run there! I must hurry! I need to see the fights!" Lee was making a crazy amount of effort into getting up and dressed in time.

"Lee! Don't you worry, you'll be just fine. We'll get there in time to see Gaara, relax." Lee's body did the opposite when Guy said Gaara's name. He tensed up and Guy chuckled. "Lee, it's okay."

"But you said--"

"No. Lee, I understand that you and him have a... bond. And that's rare and I'm very happy for you. But I also want you to understand that you are also very young. You don't need to be worrying about bonding and mating and all of that right now. I'm not saying don't be with him, I'm just saying to slow down." Lee smiled and a blush swept across his face.

"I do understand. Thank you very much, Guy Sensei." He bowed his head and Guy laughed and pat his back.

"Yeah yeah, now let's go kid. We have a match to see!"

"Yes, Sensei!"

***

Listening to the crowd was obnoxious. Everyone was so very sure that Gaara was going to lose now because Sasuke "belonged" in the field since he wasn't an Omega and Gaara did. Temari and Kankuro frowned at everything said but made no attempt to prove them wrong. Gaara would prove them wrong. For the short time of the fight, at least. Gaara would prove everyone wrong, until he wasn't needed anymore.

As time went on, Temari became more wary of going against the leaf village and a part of her wondered if Gaara was too, after all, the amount of danger it would put Lee in was astronomical but Gaara was also quite strange so maybe he didn't care. All she knew was he was back to his normal self so she supposed he visited Lee. The thought made her smirk, thinking that Gaara was so smitten with someone was almost laughable but she had to admit, he was calmer than he normally was. She'd talked with Kankuro about the possibility of it being because he was an Omega. However she was always proved wrong whenever an Alpha tried anything with him and he would put them in their place. Even though her and Kankuro were both Alphas, Gaara hadn't made any inclination that he was willing to submit to anyone. The only one he did submit even slightly to was Lee, if that says anything on his willpower.

Kankuro nudged Gaara with his head to Temari and she looked at him and noticed his eyes were scanning the crowd. Both of them shared a smile, their brother was looking for Lee. How sweet.

"I don't want to hear it." Gaara mumbled and Temari and Kankuro almost laughed, despite themselves.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay okay okay. Jesus. How is this my most popular story anyway!? 
> 
> I got all your comments. It's rare a week goes by without someone leaving Kudos on this or a comment so thank you to all of you who kept insisting the story must go on because honestly if you didn't constantly remind me, this chapter wouldn't be up now. 
> 
> I haven't written in so long because I don't know what to do with this story. I don't know if I should follow the Naruto plot or not. I want to at least get to the fight with Kimmimaru but after that I have no idea. 
> 
> Since you all were so great at messaging me before, how about you help me out now! What do I do?!

Chapter 6

Gaara decided he didn't want to wait around anymore and took a walk. It was frustrating seeing his siblings sharing looks behind his back. He knew what they were thinking. That he was looking for Lee.

He was, but still it was annoying. 

"Hey look, it's that omega." He frowned at the comment that was apparently supposed to be said quietly enough for him not to hear it. 

It was interesting to hear though. Him. An Omega. It was an enigma, honestly. How would someone as powerful as him be an omega? That's what half of these people were interested in. The other half thought there was no way he could be as powerful as people brought him up to be. 

"He's not claimed." Another comment that bothered him. He never realized how offensive it was to hear someone say an omega was unclaimed. Technically an Alpha could be unclaimed but no one would say that. Only about omega was it okay to say. "We should change that."

Gaara felt his heartbeat in his ears. It was something that started to happen to him as he grew into his omega nature. He could tell his body was getting more submissive but his mind quickly pushed those motions behind and his alpha mind came forward. 

When he heard his heartbeat that was a telltale sign that his body was getting anxious around unmated alphas. It made him nervous to be around most alphas now even though he knew he could easily take them. He was honestly worried one day his biological tendencies would submit and he would let an alpha take him. An alpha that wasn't Lee.

The urge to be near Lee was almost sickening and it far surpassed any bloodlust he had before. He tried to keep it at bay but it was painful. His bloodlust was just him reminding himself that he should love only himself and fight only for himself. That was his ninja way. At least, it was for a while. Now his body, heart and mind yearned to be with Lee and it was a feeling he hated more than bloodlust. Killing people was easy. It didn't require yourself to be completely at the hands of another. Love was something else entirely and Lee already showed that he didn't want his affection, whatever it was.

Gaara stopped in the middle of the hallway with his arms crossed and a frown on his face as two figures neared him. He knew instantly it was the people he heard before. They reeked of alpha pheromones and it was disgusting. Briefly Gaara felt himself get annoyed at the thought that they were alphas and he wasn't but he dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. 

"He's kind of cute." One said with a smirk and in Gaara's mind, he recoiled. Cute? What the hell did they think he was? A dog?

"Come here, omega." The other demanded. An alpha demand. Gaara frowned at it but made no movement to the alpha. "You stubborn little shit. I said come here!" Gaara kept his feet rooted to the ground and narrowed his gaze at the two. Who did they think they were?

"If you think you have any type of power over me, you have another thing coming." Gaara said calmly, his frown deepening. 

"Come on, I bet you're aching for a knot. I got one right here." The grin on his face was repulsive and the other looked at him and laughed.

"Dude, you're so vulgar."

"It's what the omegas like. They like being submissive little bitches." Gaara bared his teeth, which was something he rarely did. This situation seemed to be getting out of hand. 

"If you don't get away from me, I promise you won't like the end result." Gaara warned and he felt fairly proud of himself that he hadn't killed them yet. He honestly didn't have the urge. At least, to kill them for no reason. They were certainly giving him ample reasons.

"Are you threatening us, omega?" One hissed and the other growled. Both took a step forward and without prompting them, the cork from his gourd popped off and sand began to pour out slowly. The smell of the blood soaked sand was overwhelming. The two ninja withdrew just by the smell alone.

"Do you need me to use smaller words? I thought I made that clear, alpha." Despite not changing much facial expression, Gaara was able to put a lot of venom in his words. 

"What is going on here?" Gaara's posture stiffened and he turned his head. Lee? How did he not smell... Oh. The sand. Lee was standing next to that moron, Guy.

"Nothing. They were just leaving." Gaara gave them such a sour look it actually made them flinch. The sand inched closer to them and they took a step back away from it. "Right?" The two alpha looked at Gaara, then at Lee and Guy. With a final glare to Gaara they quickly fled the hallway and the sand on the ground found its way back into the gourd and the cork was pushed in tight.

"Are you alright?" Lee asked, voice full of concern. Now that the sand was away, Gaara could smell Lee and he smelled so good. He smelled like fresh cut grass and crisp apples in the autumn air. 

"I'm fine." Gaara managed to keep his expression neutral and Guy gave them a brief look-over and pat Lee on the shoulder and left them in the hall by themselves. 

"I have to go." Gaara said after a minute of silence. Lee shifted his stance and tried to say several things at once but it came out as a stumbled up mess.

"Are you well, Gaara?" Lee asked and Gaara furrowed his brow at the question. Was it customary for him to wait until he announce his leave before he asked him how he was doing? How odd.

"I'm ok." Gaara said quietly. "How are your... injuries?" Lee looked down at his arm and leg.

"I am okay too." Gaara could smell the sadness in the air.

"Why are you lying?" Anyone else would sound defensive at the lie. Gaara just sounded confused. The smell in the air turned to a deeper scent that Gaara couldn't trace.

"It is nothing, Gaara. Nothing to worry yourself over." There was pain there. Not physical pain, emotional pain. His alpha was in pain and he didn't know?

"What's wrong?" Gaara took a step closer to Lee and Lee tensed up. He didn't want Gaara to find out because he didn't know how he would take it. "Lee?"

"..." Lee pursed his lips. He felt inclined to share with Gaara and he tried so hard not to but he couldn't keep lying to his omega. "I... I do not know if I will ever be a shinobi. My injuries are... too severe." Lee sighed and averted his gaze from Gaara's. 

The smell in the air quickly changed to an overwhelming scent of regret from Gaara. Lee didn't like that smell on him. He liked the warmth Gaara usually smelled like. Gaara smelled like a fire, one you'd have with your friends at a celebration, but it had a sweetness to it as well. Like a sweet fire. Now the air smelled like burnt caramel, which still was a sweet smell, but it was powerful.

"Gaara-"

"Lee I must go get ready for my fight." When Lee looked at Gaara, he noticed Gaara's eyes were locked on the ground. One thing he always admired of Gaara was that he always looked people dead in the eyes. Looking at the ground was a submissive trait. Was Gaara submitting to him? Why?

"Gaara stop." Lee said softly and Gaara came to a halt. Lee cursed himself in his mind for using his alpha voice on Gaara whom was already upset. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... Gaara, I know you didn't mean to hurt me."

"I still did." His voice had a finality to it that Lee accepted as the end of the conversation. Sometimes Gaara surprised him with his alpha tendencies. 

Lee watched Gaara walk away and said a quiet 

"Good Luck" that for whatever reason he was certain Gaara heard.

***

"Lee!" Sakura looked absolutely delighted to see him which was a warm feeling. 

"Sakura-chan! How lovely it is to see you!" And it was, he was glad to see a friendly face that wasn't Guy-Sensei. He loved his sensei he just needed some time away from him. Especially being as emotionally drained as he was. 

"You're looking good." Sakura complimented and for whatever reason it made Lee slightly uncomfortable. He was aware he asked Sakura out before but he wondered if their dynamic suddenly changed because he was an alpha now. 

"Thank you. I am trying to work hard every day." Lee said gracefully as he sat.

"Bushy-brow! Oh man am I glad to see you up and walking! Even though you're using those crutches... It's still awesome to see you, man!" Naruto yelled literally right in his face. Lee gave him a weak smile. "You okay?"

"I am fine."

"You sure? I kinda saw you talking to Gaara before. Is everything ok? You two good?" Lee raised his eyebrow.

"What do you mean, we are good? What is there to be good or bad about?" Naruto looked at Sakura, confused.

"Lee and Gaara aren't together." Sakura clarified and Naruto looked surprised.

"What?! You're not?! Why?!" The only good question here is why Naruto yelled when he was right in front of whomever he was talking to.

"It is complicated. But I am not a good alpha, anyway. These two alphas were propositioning him in the hallway and you should have seen him. He was so cool and composed. He got rid of them on his own. He is so powerful. What does he want with me? I do not even know if I will ever be even a fraction of how strong he is." Lee said unhappily and Naruto let out a long sigh.

"You're really dumb, busy-brow."

"Hey!" Sakura smacked Naruto upside the head and Naruto yelped in pain.

"What was that for?! I'm just saying the truth!" Naruto cried and Sakura hit him again.

"Can you stop being obnoxious?! Lee is obviously upset and you're just making it worse!" Lee rubbed his eyes and groaned at the fighting. It was always like this with these two.

"It is find. I know I am not the best."

"That's not what I mean at all." Naruto admitted and Lee looked over at Naruto, confused.

"What do you mean by that then?"

"I mean I think you two would work really well together. It's kinda funny, really. You're trying to fit in the mold of being an alpha but Gaara already has that covered. You grew up thinking you'd be an omega and from what I heard, Gaara grew up thinking he'd be an alpha. You two are both set in your ways already. What makes you think an alpha is what Gaara wants? He grew up thinking he'd have an omega and vice versa with you. Just be you. That's what he needs. Just stop trying to be something you're not." For the first time in a while, realization dawned on Lee. 

"Wow, Naruto. That was actually really insightful. I'm surprised." Sakura admitted, sounding almost touched. Naruto scoffed.

"Yeah of course. I'm just always insightful. It ain't my fault it took you this long to realize." Sakura glowered at him and smacked him again. They started bickering but Lee wasn't paying attention much. His eyes found Gaara's figure standing on the empty battlefield. Sasuke still wasn't showing up.

Somehow, he knew though, with everything Naruto said, he was right. Why was he trying to be an alpha so bad? It wasn't like Gaara was trying to be an omega. He was still the same Gaara. Why was he trying to fit himself into a mold so badly?

If he was an alpha but still submitted to Gaara that would be okay. Maybe that's why they were soul mates. They were supposed to be together because it made sense. 

Lee felt a wave of determination he hadn't felt before. He was going to be with Gaara, he knew that now. There was no fighting it, that was his special person. And in his ninja way it stated that he would always protect his special person. 

Lee wanted the fight to be over already. He was dying to talk to Gaara.

When Sasuke showed up in a whirlwind of leaves with Kakashi-sensei, Lee wasn't ready. He felt dread weigh down his body. He wanted to jump up and stop the fight. Deep down he knew Gaara was more than capable but it was still a terrifying feeling seeing his omega down there preparing for a fight. 

"Oh! Sasuke is here!" Sakura shrieked with excitement, only realizing to calm down when she felt the heaviness of the air. Lee looked terrified and Sakura honestly couldn't blame him. Sasuke had been training for a long time with Kakashi, perfecting his techniques. She hadn't seen him in so long and he looked even more badass than normal! She practically swooned.

Lee struggled to stand and leaned against the edge of the railing to get a better look at Gaara. He saw Gaara's head move and for a moment his heart felt like it was synched to Gaara's as their eyes locked into place. Gaara nodded his head slightly and Lee knew it was meant to be a calming gesture and appreciated it greatly.

The crowd went wild when the proctor said they might not accept Sasuke as a contestant since he was so late. It was so loud it hurt his ears. In the end they decided to let the fight go on and Lee felt the dread again all at once.

He was jealous of the cool expression on Gaara's face as he stood there with his arms crossed. For seemingly no reason at all his body felt warm with an overwhelming feeling of pride at his omega. He couldn't wait to see him when the fight was through.

"Good luck, Gaara." Lee whispered with a soft smile. He sincerely hoped everything would be fine.

It had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to help me or lord knows how long it'll take for me to update again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone who commented! That meant a lot to me!
> 
> These chapters are really hard to write because I just can't seem to come up with something to write. I swear once I get to Kimimaru everything will be smoother. (And once I get to Kimimaru, things will look a lot better for the boys ;D ) 
> 
> I also decided to stick with the plot of the show, but really loosely. All this happened in the show, kind of. Obviously I'm not doing it verbatim, I don't have the time.
> 
> Anyway, please comment, hit me up, something. It'll give me motivation to get through these shitty chapters onto what everyone actually wants to read.

Chapter 7

 

Gaara's nose was more sensitive than normal and he could smell Sasuke from where he stood and Sasuke absolutely reeked of Alpha. It wasn't something he could normally tell but for whatever reason Gaara knew Sasuke was going to present soon and he couldn't stand the smell. Before Sasuke could start the fight, Gaara let his sand drip out of the gourd in hopes the blood smell would mask Sasuke's scent. 

Gaara had a scowl on his face and he had the sand hovering in a slight curved formation around him. His hopes were answered when the only thing he could smell was the bitter one of metal. 

Sasuke charged quickly, a lot more quickly than Gaara expected considering he was sure Sasuke was transitioning as they spoke. Gaara was almost unprepared for the hit Sasuke threw, but just in time, his sand grasped Sasuke's arm in the air, stopping him mid punch. Sasuke frowned and yanked his arm away, letting himself skid backwards. 

The fight continued as such. Sasuke was throwing punches but he seemed to be getting more and more drained. Gaara knew he would. He could smell it. It was overwhelming now. 

"You need to stop." Gaara said suddenly and Sasuke paused, panting heavily. Gaara was covering his nose and almost retched. The crowd was murmuring in confusion at the fight and Sasuke was leaned forward resting his hands on his knees.

"What do you mean? I'm not going to stop!" Sasuke argued in-between huge bouts of breaths. 

"You're going through transition. You're weak and you're going to lose. You need to stop before you do something you're going to regret." Gaara warned. For whatever reason he could feel a rumble in his lower stomach. He was getting irritated. Not Gaara.

Shukaku. 

Shukaku was an alpha; that Gaara could figure by his behavior. Having an alpha try and fight him? Bad idea. Gaara could handle alphas trying to mate with him and get him to submit, Shukaku didn't care. But having one try to fight him? Especially smelling like that? 

When an alpha first presents, their pheromones are stronger than any other scent of any different standing of the ABO community. Alphas are known to be territorial and their scent is mean to instill some sort of barrier against other alphas. Their smells were usually harsh and undesirable.

When Omega first presents their smells are sweet and enticing. The point of the omega smell is to allure alphas into mating with them. It was difficult for omega because only some alpha smell good for them whereas to an alpha, all omega smell great. Once they're mated, the omega gets some of the alpha's smell mixed in with their own. This helps other alpha distinct who they can approach and who isn't worth their time. The slightly bitter undertone of the sweetness of an omega scent. 

To Gaara, Lee smelled heavenly. This wasn't a surprise considering they're mates. Gaara wasn't certain if Sasuke smelled so horribly to him because Gaara had already found the person he wanted to be with, or if Sasuke just smelled that terribly. 

The closer Sasuke came to Gaara, the more irritating the feeling of Shukaku got. His body was tingling with numbness. He knew what that meant. Shukaku was getting ready to take over his body. 

"Give up. Now." Gaara warned and Sasuke growled, eyes flashing into slits for a moment before returning to normal. Gaara was positive now that he was getting ready. It should be any moment, honestly. He wondered how Lee was fairing, if he could smell Sasuke too. 

***

"What is going on?" Lee asked loudly, trying to garner the attention of his friends around him.

"It looks like Sasuke is turning alpha!" Ino said with glee. "Oh I knew he would be one!"

"Shut up Ino-pig. This isn't the time to be talking about Sasuke! This is a real problem!" Sakura yelled, which honestly surprised everyone. 

"Yeah, Ino. Gaara looks nauseated. I wonder if he's gonna hurl." Naruto said and leaned in closer, squinting his eyes. 

"He needs to step away from Gaara." The anger they heard emanating from Lee's tone made them do a double take. Lee's teeth were bared, sharp canines showing and his normal round eyes were drawn to slits. 

"Lee you need to calm down." Sakura said quietly, she knew it was no use though. It must be difficult sitting and overlooking an arena where your omega was fighting an alpha and knowing you can't even move to do anything about it.

Lee tried to stand on his own and fumbled backwards and Sakura quickly let her hand rest on his shoulder.

"Lee you need to calm down. I know it's hard but this isn't good for you." Sakura tried to reason, she'd never seen Lee so angry before! When his eyes hit the sunlight she could see a deep red tone. This wasn't good. A territorial alpha was never a good sign.

"Lee man, you need to relax. Gaara has got this. He's super strong! I mean, not that we'd know from experience but we hear nothing but good things! You shouldn't be so worried." Naruto attempted but noticed he wasn't getting anywhere with the seething Lee next to him. Naruto could understand his anger. It was hard watching the fight. It wasn't really a fight anymore. They just seemed to be talking now. The sand was around a 4 feet perimeter around Gaara and Gaara was knelt over holding his nose. It was actually kind of funny and Naruto tried his hardest not to let any sound of a laugh out.

Even so, Naruto was truly worried about what Lee would wind up doing.

***

"Kankuro this isn't good." Temari's voice was laced with worry. Kankuro could only agree. "It's like he isn't thinking of the plan at all."

"Temari, I don't think he can even think of the plan now if he tried. It looks like Shukaku is taking over whether we want him to or not. I just wish I knew why." 

"The Uchiha must be turning alpha. It's the only reason Gaara would be holding his nose like that and isn't Shukaku an alpha? He's getting territorial. This is really bad. We need to warn someone." Kankuro could only agree. They needed to find Baki, not that he could do anything about it.

From the other side of the platform, a confused Shino stood and watched the occurrence. 

"Plan?"

***

The pins and needles sensation spread throughout Gaara's entire body and it was like he was slowly getting more and more numb. It started in his left arm and tingled all the way up. He noticed the slight discoloration of his skin in his left arm. If he kept fighting this, he was going to get hurt really bad. He frowned and looked up at Sasuke.

"I warned you." With his right hand in the O-hitsuji formation, he closed his eyes and began his sleep jutsu. Gaara slumped over and Sasuke looked incredibly confused. Then he noticed Gaara's skin began to change on his left side and it was changing rapidly. It got bulkier and turned into a yellowish sand color. When Gaara finally looked up again his face resembled half of a monster's. 

The most confusing thing for Sasuke was that now when he smelled Gaara, he didn't smell sweet. He smelled overwhelmingly like an alpha. He absolutely reeked. The overwhelming smell gave Sasuke a headache and he struggled to keep his feet ground. His transitioning wasn't going as smoothly as he thought. He was lightheaded, dizzy, and now nauseous. He trained for an entire month and perfected his technique for this? Sasuke was furious. The not so subtle undertones of his alpha nature were driving him crazy. He felt so aggressive, more than he had ever been before. 

He couldn't give up the fight. He was in so much pain and he wanted to lay down and wait for this to be over but he couldn't do it. He had to fight Gaara. His pride was in the way. Sasuke stood on shaky legs and attempted to land another attack, which Gaara easily ignored. He smirked, even.

"Gaara is gone." Even the voice sounded different. Who was this? 

"What are you?" Sasuke asked, momentarily distracted from the strong smell. His insatiable curiosity was the only thing propelling him forward at this point.

"Names Shukaku, how ya doin'?" The grin on Gaara's face was other worldly. 

"What did you do with Gaara?" 

"Oh we don’t have to worry about him anymore..."

***

"What the hell is going on!?" Naruto shouted and Lee just stared and gaped. What was wrong with Gaara? What was going on?

Lee tried to stand up but a sharp pain hurt his left leg and he collapsed to his chair.

"Lee, are you ok?" Sakura asked softly and Lee grunted. He was in pain, but this pain was weird. This pain wasn't his.

Why was he feeling pain?

When he looked up at Gaara he noticed the side that hurt on him was the side that mutated on Gaara. What did this mean? The pain was blinding! He wondered if this is how Gaara felt right now. Did he want to collapse too?

Lee could barely pay attention to the fight that was happening. He vaguely saw Sasuke and Gaara fight. He knew Gaara threw a punch and he saw Sasuke land a kick but everything was completely blurry to him. 

Everything just started... to get really... dark.

***

Shukaku eventually got bored of the stadium and decided he didn't want to be there. With a quick jump upwards, he was on his way. Sasuke growled at the thought that he was being ignored and quickly followed after him.

The stadium was put to sleep before anyone could actually comment on what was going on. 

"Oh good, Sakura. I see you found out that this was all an illusion." Kakashi commented and Sakura nodded slowly looking at Lee.

"Yeah, I noticed the genjutsu prepared myself. I released it a few minutes ago. I'm worried about Sasuke. We should really go after him!" Sakura demanded. "He's going through his transition and Gaara is crazy powerful right now. I don't know what that is but it isn't human. But speaking of Gaara... should I release Lee from the genjutsu?"

"Don't bother." Sakura turned her head and Gai stood there looking solemn. "He can't fight and he'd... He'd only get in the way. Gaara needs to be stopped. Sasuke needs help taking him down. Lee wouldn't do that. Gaara is a weakness and we need to get him under control. Lee would end up trying to protect Gaara but he's can't move very well anyway. Just leave him." Sakura nodded.

"Wake up Naruto and Shikamaru. It's up to you three to get Sasuke back. Please don't let him transition out there with Gaara. We don't know what will happen." Kakashi warned and Sakura agreed and quickly went to work on waking up Shikamaru.

"You're awake?!" She yelled and he rubbed his ear.

"Ow. You don't have to yell. What a drag. Yeah, I'm up. I've been up."

"Then why are you laying there doing nothing!?" Sakura yelled and Shikamaru sat up and glowered.

"I really didn't want to get involved. Something tells me you're going to drag me along with you on your Sasuke adventure." Sakura huffed in annoyance. "Great. It'll be fun. Me, you, and Naruto. Awesome."

***

"Where the hell is Gaara going!?" Temari exclaimed as they watched him flee the stadium.

"Damn it, Shukaku!" Kankuro cursed and they looked around for their father and couldn't find him anywhere. "We have to go get him. He's completely ruining the plans!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Temari snapped and they quickly ran after Gaara, hopefully finding him before it was too late.

"Do you think Lee is going to show up?" Kankuro called to Temari. That would be ideal. If there was anyone who would wake Gaara up from Shukaku, it would be Lee.

"I don't think we can get to him right now. He's got to be getting protected by that weirdo sensei of his." Temari pointed out and Kankuro cursed to himself. Stupid Gai Sensei. "But that would've been a marvelous idea. Maybe we'll have to try and get to him later if Gaara doesn't calm down."

"Why the hell is this happening now though?" Kankuro groaned. "Fuckin' Uchiha going through his transition stage way to early and fucking everything up."

"Don't worry Kankuro. We'll figure something out. We have to." Kankuro nodded to Temari and they delved deeper into the forest.

***

"Don't you dare ignore me!" Sasuke shouted to Gaara. When he turned around, Sasuke noticed that even more of Gaara's body was mutated into the demon he had inside him. "We aren't finished with our fight yet!" 

"You want to fight, alpha? I'd love to." Shukaku cackled and turned his whole body so it was facing Sasuke.

"Bring it on, omega." Sasuke taunted and Shukaku scowled.

"Just because my host is an omega, does NOT mean I'm one. I'll make you pay for that comment."

"You better hope Lee doesn't show up. I don't think you could hold Gaara off of that." Shukaku's frown deepened further, considering his statement. He was right. If Lee showed up somehow, he would completely lose control over Gaara's body. He may be an alpha, but Gaara's body would react to Lee's alpha voice in an instant.

"And you better hope you can escape without me killing you." Sasuke smirked and pounced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be honest, didn't think I could finish this chapter. I started writing it like 5 days ago and could not keep the document opened very long because I kept getting bored! But with everyone commenting I kept pushing myself to write. 
> 
> I'm probably going to write another GaaLee story while I write this one because there's seriously a lack of these two and I'd love to read more of them! But I also have to get my ass moving with my other GaaLee story, Autumn. So many stories to write so little time...


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a rather long chapter so I'm pretty proud of myself. Only problem is I really don't like writing fight scenes but I tried to make it not completely boring.

Chapter 8

 

"Are you sure that we shouldn't bring Lee?" Shikamaru called to Naruto and Sakura as they jumped through the trees. "I feel like this would be the best time to use the guy."

"I think we can handle it. Besides, Bushy Brow is hurt. What good can he be?" Naruto said simply and Sakura considered all angles.

"On one hand he could snap and go alpha and hurt himself trying to protect Gaara. On the other hand he might be able to kick Gaara out of that weird trance he seems to be in." Sakura sighed at the two heavy weighing options. "This isn't an easy decision."

"Hopefully we can get in touch with someone who can bring Lee if the time comes." Shikamaru sighed and mumbled. "When the time comes..."

***

By the time Shikamaru, Sakura and Naruto made it to the area Gaara and Sasuke were fighting at, Gaara was a lot bigger and now didn't have much resemblance of his former self at all. 

Sasuke was panting heavily and wiped blood from the corner of his mouth. He hadn't been able to land a single hit on Shukaku. The sand kept getting in his way. The strong alpha smell hung thick in the air and really messed with Sasuke's perception during his transition phase. He was trying hard to stand upright but the longer he stood the more difficult it became. 

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted, garnering the attention of both fighters. 

"Look who decided to show up." Shukaku chuckled. "How fun. I can't wait to kill all of you."

"Let Gaara go!" Naruto shouted unhelpfully. "That isn't your body!"

"I'm afraid it is now. And why don't we end all of this chit-chat, no?" Shukaku raised his arm as Sakura attempted to land a hit against him and shoved her against the tree.

"Sakura!" Naruto quickly jumped into action with his kunai knife and Shukaku smirked when he cut through the sand arm. Naruto was left completely baffled when the arm didn't crumble away but pinned Sakura to the tree even tighter. "No! Sakura!" Naruto yelled and the connected half of Shukaku's limb shrunk down to a normal size and stayed at his side.

"Good luck. You better find a way to get her out quick or she'll be squished to death." He laughed darkly and Naruto and Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"Oh what a drag, should've gotten Lee..." Shikamaru grumbled to himself.

"Gaara!" Everyone looked up to see Kankuro and Temari land on a high branch. "Gaara what are you doing? This is not the time to be taking a detour!" Temari shouted desperately. 

"Oh my dear sister, it isn't Gaara here anymore." He shook his head. "Can't you tell? We don't even look the same." The grin on his face was sinister and Temari frowned. "Soon enough, I will gather enough chakra to release my full form."

***

The sleeping form of Lee laid on the cold ground unmoving and lost in a sleep that could hardly contain him. His body was thrumming with chakra for reasons he couldn't understand. His sleep was not restful and all he could think about was Gaara.

Gaara. Gaara. Gaara. Gaara.

His face twisted with pain and he remained unconscious, begging whomever to end the pain he felt through his veins. 

Slowly, a figure walked towards Lee and stood over him, watching. A few couple hand signals and a soft whisper,

"Release." And Lee's eyes popped open.

***

Fighting Gaara as Gaara was difficult enough. What was even harder was fighting Gaara as Shukaku. He seemed to be an entity that was overflowing with copious amounts of chakra. He didn't seem to get worn out no matter what the three shinobi threw at him. 

"How are we going to beat him?" Naruto asked, breathing heavily next to Shikamaru. Sasuke was sitting pressed against a tree trying to garner any type of strength. His face was bright red and he was sweating bullets. "It's pretty much just us now."

"Well what we should've done is gotten Lee. But we didn't do that and now we're here." Shikamaru grumbled. "What a drag, I knew I shouldn't have listened to any of you."

"We were thinking the same thing." They turned their heads and Temari and Kankuro stood on a tree next to them.

"He's your brother! Can't you do something?" Naruto complained and Temari glared at him.

"You don't know Gaara, do you? And even more so, you don't know Shukaku. This is impossible. Especially with two of you transitioning. You can't even gather all of your strength."

"Two of us? Sasuke is the only one here transitioning." Shikamaru said and glanced down at his hands as if they would let him know if he was too.

"For a smart guy, you're pretty dumb. I'll let it slide though. You haven't transitioned yet so you can't use your nose to scent people. And Naruto there is going through the very beginning of it." Naruto's face flushed and he started to shake. Why was he so nervous?

"W-what am I?" Naruto asked nervously and Kankuro shrugged.

"Hell if I know. You just started. And not all the time can anyone tell. You'll find out soon enough."

"Are you all done talking? Can we get back to this fight?" Shukaku called from the bottom base of the tree. 

They gave it all they had. They were too exhausted to do much else and now Naruto knew why he was having a difficult time using his chakra. He just thought it was because of his fight with Neji. He didn't know there was anything else to it. He had to try and focus! Sakura was in danger! Luckily, she was passed out and couldn't freak out right now or he didn't know if he could maintain proper focus.

In a quick jump, Naruto found himself falling fast towards Shukaku. He quickly summoned several shadow clones in order to properly do a formation where one of them might land a hit. 

"Shadow clone jutsu!" He shouted and kicked himself backwards, out of the initial line of fire in order to gain the element of surprise. He watched as his clones failed to hit Shukaku and cursed to himself wondering how else he could do this. It was getting increasingly difficult. He noticed Shukaku was now even bigger than before. He clenched his teeth and sent Sasuke a parting look before dashing towards Shukaku who's attention was averted to above him. 

Sasuke waited until Shukaku was too distracted by Naruto's hits until he unleashed a jutsu of his own. With the last of his chakra he stood up.

"Fire style jutsu!" Naruto, anticipating the attack, used the sand barrier as a kickstand and propelled himself away in a backwards flip just in time to avoid being hit by the ball of flames. He couldn't help the grin on his face after noticing Shukaku was too distracted by him to shield himself against Sasuke. 

"Yeah! Right on, Sasuke!" Naruto cheered and Sasuke smirked and collapsed back onto the tree branch. Shikamaru quickly jumped off of the tree to stand beside Naruto. 

"Shadow possession jutsu." And in a swift movement, Shukaku was frozen in place. "Oh man, this is not good."

"What's wrong Shikamaru?" Naruto asked and Temari and Kankuro met them at the base of the tree.

"There is no way he can hold Shukaku for long with that jutsu. It's impossible. He's literally a demon." Temari explained and noticed Shikamaru was already sweating heavily.

"I don't know how long I can hold this for. It's already wasting a substantial amount of chakra and I haven't even done anything. If there's going to be an attack, you should probably do it now!" Naruto nodded and positioned himself for another shadow clone jutsu. After he summoned 5 of himself he jumped into the fight again. 

No one considered even though Shukaku was unable to move, it didn't mean anything for his sand. It quickly whipped around, hitting each shadow clone and removing them from existence. Naruto was thrown against a tree with a grunt.

"Idiot. You should know that even without moving the sand protects Gaara!" Temari scolded and Kankuro nodded behind her.

"Well why the hell don't you help us out?!" Naruto snapped, rubbing his sore head. "Stop standing there and criticizing us! It's your brother!" 

"If you think we're getting involved in hurting Gaara, you're dumber than you look." Kankuro said plainly. "There isn't anything on this world that would get me involved in this fight."

"Well if someone can think of something before I run out of chakra and Sakura gets squeezed to death that would just be superb." Shikamaru drawled with a scowl.

"How do we get the sand to stop protecting Shukaku?" Naruto asked, once he made it back to Shikamaru's side.

"Hell if I know. You'd think he'd be wasting a ton of chakra but no. He's literally pulsing with chakra. His sand is almost a separate entity. It looks like it's creating its own chakra." Shikamaru sighed and closed his eyes tightly. His body was on fire. 

The shadow possession jutsu snapped in half once Shikamaru's chakra was drained and he collapsed to the ground beneath him. Shukaku's head darted to the side and he stared at the four shinobi and growled.

"You will pay for that." He twisted his body and sand followed as he moved. His whole body was that of a raccoon, there was nothing human left. He more than doubled the size of the average man.

The sand came barreling towards them and Temari quickly grabbed her fan and tried to blow it away as hard as she could. The sand easily cut through the wind and it pushed them through the air and across the forest. Temari and Shikamaru wound up landing in an awkward position on a tree together, Kankuro slammed his head on the nearest tree and Naruto was pushed the farthest and no one could see him anymore.

"Sasuke! Now would be a good time to help!" Shikamaru groaned and the sand snaked around his ankle and yanked him off the tree upside down. 

Sasuke tried his hardest to stand but found himself unable. His chakra was virtually drained and his body ached. He was sweating so bad his clothes looked like they were drenched in a river and his face was bright red. He had such a bad fever and he was lucky the branch was big enough to hold him or he would've rolled off a while ago. He was on the verge of passing out. He sent one last look at Sakura and hoped someone would get her before she was killed and just like that, he saw black.

"I don't think Sasuke is going to be much help." Naruto frowned at the small blue shirt he could see in the distance. He was pretty sure Sasuke was down for the count. "I'll try to get you down Shikamaru!"

"I think I'd rather just stay here." Shikamaru said flatly and Naruto ignored him and attempted to cut the sand with a kunai. The sand deflected it easily and Naruto grit his teeth. He wished he could tap into Kyuubi's chakra but he couldn't! He didn't know how! And even if he did, would it be enough to bring down Shukaku?

Temari jumped down from the tree and helped Kankuro up and they both stared at Shukaku with mixed feelings. They didn't know if they should actively try to help the leaf shinobi or if they should stay out of it. If they fought with Gaara, who knows what he would do to them once he wasn't under Shukaku anymore.

Temari made the first move and opened her fan to three stars from the beginning and send sharp winds to slice the sand from around Shikamaru's ankle. Shikamaru came tumbling down from the air and Kankuro caught him last minute before he could crash. Shikamaru rubbed his face and Kankuro let him down.

"Thanks." Temari and Kankuro nodded at him and Shukaku snarled at the sand siblings. They knew they were in for it. 

"I think a sand burial is a good enough punishment for these shinobi, no?" Shukaku said to seemingly no one.

"Can you stop him at all?" Shikamaru asked and Kankuro and Temari stood there, frozen in place.

The sand began to fester closer to the group of four going at an odd pace. Shukaku was laughing and Naruto attempted to stop the sand with no avail. He couldn't tap into his chakra anymore. He had nothing left. 

There was an awful buzzing sound in his ear and Naruto smacked his face at the same time Shikamaru and the sand siblings rubbed their ears. The noise got louder and louder and Shukaku paused for a moment and looked around. Why were there so many bugs?

A gust of wind cut in, strong enough to make a small tornado of leaves and once it settled down, the figures of a standing upright Shino supporting a tired, beat up looking Rock Lee stood in-between Shukaku and the four other ninja.

"Shino! Oh man you're amazing!" Naruto could've cried tears of happiness.

"What is going on?" Lee asked, attempting to stand on his own. He felt his alpha instincts roll into overdrive the closer he was to Shukaku. Was this Gaara? "Gaara? Is that you?"

"Gaara is not here, you meddlesome alpha. Now leave." Lee's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Where is Gaara?" He asked curtly and winced when he tried to stand up straight. He wound up fumbling into Shino and holding on. Shukaku felt a weird sense of jealousy surge throughout his body and knew instantly it was Gaara festering even though he was unconscious. Gaara could feel his mate nearby. This wasn't good. "Where is my omega?!"

"He is not your omega, alpha." Shukaku spat and Lee frowned and tried to stand on his own once more. 

"Yes he is. Gaara!" Lee shouted and Shukaku growled and sent the sand towards him as Lee looked at it head on without wincing. The sand pushed him back a few feet, but Shino was able to take most of the blow off of him and keep him upright. "Wake up, omega!"

Lee felt weird by demanding an omega to do something. All his life he worried about the day he would find an alpha that wanted him and he'd have to succumb to his every beck and call because that's what omega did. He told himself he would try and find an alpha that didn't do that to him and yet here he was demanding something of his omega. He didn't like it. And Gaara wasn't even technically his. The internal debate he wound up having every time Gaara was involved was enough to drive him crazy!

He knew what it was like to be an omega that no one took seriously and everyone said they just catered to an alpha and he told himself he was more than that. Here he was, an alpha, and doing everything he said he didn't want in an alpha. How was he going to live with himself?

Shukaku shuttered and Lee noticed even slightly, Shukaku got smaller. Lee couldn't help the grin that spread across his face!

"Yes Gaara! You can do it! Wake up!" He said happily and punched a fist in the air. He noticed Shukaku got even smaller. He couldn't keep the tears out of his eyes. How marvelous! His omega actually listened to him! This was a fantastic day! "I am so proud of you, Gaara!"

Shukaku attempted to attack Lee but his face twisted in discomfort and pain before he could reach the boy. Lee knew it was Gaara who stopped him and couldn't be more proud. Gaara was learning how to control his demon! 

"Way to go bushy brow!" Naruto said excitedly once he realized Gaara was returning to a human form. "You saved all our asses today."

"Well, I know you would have been able to beat any opponent you put your mind to had you been physically well to do it." Lee smiled at Naruto. "Congratulations on your transition by the way!" Naruto blushed and scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"Yeah yeah. What a drag. This mission was terrible." Shikamaru sighed and Lee smiled at him too. He looked back at where Gaara stood. His body was limp as he stood, head hung in front of him with his arms loosely at his side.

"Gaara! Are you okay?" Lee asked and tried to walk, a sharp pain sent through his body and he almost collapsed. Shino was there to catch him again and Lee send him a tight smile. Naruto and Shikamaru quickly jumped up to get to Sakura to make sure she was okay and finally Gaara lifted his head up. His eyes raked over Shino and he growled. Once Shino was sure Lee was even on his feet again, he let go of Lee and took a step away from Lee. If there was someone more territorial than an alpha it would be an in love omega. 

"Lee? What are you doing here?" Gaara asked quietly and stayed his distance away. He looked completely drained.

"I came to save you." Lee gave him a thumbs up and smile and Gaara frowned. He didn't want to be saved.

"What are you saving me from?" He asked, confused and Lee put his hand down and his smile faded.

"From demonic possession?" Gaara had the grace to look slightly embarrassed but his frown was tight. "Gaara, are you ok?"

"Temari, Kankuro." Gaara called and Temari and Kankuro were by his side in an instant. "Let's go home. I can't move." Lee looked heartbroken and Gaara tried not to look his way. 

"But Gaara... Where are you going?" Lee's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion and Temari and Kankuro supported Gaara by putting one arm of his over each of their shoulders. 

"I can't be with an alpha who doesn't want me." Gaara said calmly and before Lee could say anything, they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please please let me know what Naruto should be. I don't know, honestly. And I feel like there's too many alphas in the story. IDK. 
> 
> Also, if there are any ships you'd like to see, comment so I can work it into the story! (Temari and Shikamaru are a given tho)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for your comments and kudos. They keep me writing when the story is dry. There isn't any Gaara/Lee interaction in this chapter but there will be next chapter!

Chapter 9

 

Lee was depressed. His omega left, they were fighting a war he couldn't help with, and their Hokage died. To make everything worse, his omega was fighting for the opposite side. Well, not really. He was on the opposite side's team but with all the gossip, he heard from everyone it seemed the sound village completely manipulated the sand village. To top it all off, he heard his omega's father died!

Why didn't anyone tell him Gaara was the son of the Kazekage?

He couldn't even console his omega in the time of his parent's death because he was back in the sand village. Lee wished he was better but he still had a long ways of training ahead of him. 

During the war they lost quite a few shinobi in the village, it was unfortunate, but Lee was glad it wasn't anyone he knew personally. The war was essentially over and everything was like walking on eggshells right now. He was still in the hospital (and sneaking out daily to train) but it was like time was at a standstill. 

He felt empty without Gaara. He felt so angry even thinking that. Who was Gaara to him, really? No one. He didn't even know Gaara. But those feelings that stirred beneath his skin whenever Gaara was around was better than anything he'd ever felt in his life.

He read a lot of books on alphas and tried to find any book on soul mates but it was such a rare phenomenon, the only place with books of it was the mist village and he wasn't venturing there for a book. Especially not in his condition. 

Naruto had been around to visit him a few times, Sakura mainly. It all meant nothing without Gaara and he was sure they were beginning to catch on. Gai sensei practically lived in the room with him and it was getting harder and harder to pretend he was doing okay. His skin looked paler than normal (which he chalked up to not being allowed outside) he was constantly exhausted (which he argued because of his "lack of training") and all around he was in a bad mood (no reasoning there, just puberty and alpha-ism). 

Gai tried to help him as much as he could but there was only so much he could do and say to help Lee feel better. Gai felt a pang of regret for not allowing the two to bond when they had the chance. Had they bonded, they would be together right now and not a 3 days walking distance away from each other. 

To top that off, there was no communication allowed between the Leaf and Sand village since the war so they couldn't even correspond if they wanted to. Gai's only hope was a new Hokage try to make amends with their old ally. For Lee's sake.

There were rumors of Tsunade becoming Hokage and that would've been ideal for Lee's condition. Tsunade was an amazing medical nin and perhaps she could help. Also, apparently Sasuke went AWOL and there were numerous attempts to find him. Naruto seemed to be avid on finding him.

After a while, Naruto stopped visiting. Lee found out he was training with one of the legendary sanin. He had to admit, he was jealous. Although, hearing that they were on a special mission to find Lady Tsunade specifically to help him made his heart feel warm. He would never doubt the power of youthful friendship. He had such great friends.

Even though Gai's personal remedies didn't help him, he was so grateful to have him there anyway. 

***

Gaara wasn't doing much better at the sand village. Whatever it felt like to be an alpha without his omega, it was infinitely more difficult being an omega without an alpha. Even people who knew he was dangerous tried to mate with him. Hell, even people more than double his age tried to breed him. His only luck would be heat suppressants. He knew the first year of being an omega was harder than any other time because heats could come at any time. Luckily for him, he'd only had his first initial heat and none since then even though it had been roughly 5 months. This wasn't unusual for an omega. Once their bodies got used to it, there was a regular cycle. Everyone's was different. It could be as frequent as once a month to as infrequent as once a year. Usually younger omegas go into heat more, but Gaara wasn't complaining. Especially since he didn't have his alpha.

An Alpha. He didn't have any alpha. 

Thinking of Lee always put Gaara in a mood. Months after the fight occurred and they went separate ways, Gaara still felt the aches and pains of being away from his mate. This was exceptionally hard to deal with considering they were in a different village.

Temari and Kankuro tried their best to keep Gaara company when he was feeling too exhausted to put up a fight about it. If Gaara had to be honest, he rather liked the company. He wouldn't let them know that though.

"Where are you going, Gaara?" Temari asked, placing the dirty dish she was washing down and shutting off the faucet.

"I'm going to train." Gaara said quietly.

"Do you need any help?" Gaara frowned at the question. He'd never needed help training before. What's to say he needed their help now?

"No." Gaara said simply and Temari nodded at him with a small purse of her lips. He'd known he disappointed her but he needed time alone. He was working on new techniques with his sand. He didn't need anyone there for that. Why would he? They'd just get in his way, anyhow.

***

Standing in the middle of the desert was one of the most calming things to do in Gaara's mind. He loved playing with the sand beneath him and found it fascinating how some plants seemed to thrive in the dry conditions. Remarkable. 

Gaara perfected a new sand technique. It let him hover over the ground on a cloud of sand. He wasn't sure if there was any other purpose to it other than just not standing on the ground but it was interesting to be able to pull something like that off. It wasted a lot of chakra, however. 

Just as Gaara was about to practice his new protection jutsu, he heard a voice coming from behind him. He quickly turned his head and when his eyes landed on his brother, he wanted to roll his eyes.

"Yes?"

"Hey Gaara! We got a letter from the new Hokage! That's interesting, right?" Kankuro waved the paper and Gaara put his hands down from the formation and walked towards Kankuro. 

"What does the Hokage want?" Gaara asked and Kankuro gave a weak smile.

"Well, considering you did kind of go crazy while the war was going on, they don't really see us as part of the war. They want to talk about an alliance with us again, which would be awesome because the Leaf village has access to those heat suppressants and I know you wanted to get on those." Gaara turned his head to look at the sky in thought.

Since he'd presented as an omega a part of him assumed something in the dynamic of his family would change. Honestly, it did. But not in the way he'd thought. His siblings seemed to be more protective of him which was odd. He wondered if they were doing it on purpose or if they honestly had no idea. Before the idea of Kankuro considering an alliance with a village because his little brother needed heat suppressants was laughable. Now, he found that his brother would do just that.

"Okay." Gaara nodded once and Kankuro grinned.

"Awesome. We're going to have a meeting with her and discuss the alliance soon enough. She said she may need us for a future mission. Rumor from the grapevine is, it has something to do with the Uchiha kid. That's just what I heard, anyway. But whatever, awesome. I'm glad. I'm going to go tell Temari and we'll get word out. Enjoy your training, bro." Kankuro walked away with a wave of his hand and Gaara watched him go with a tilt of his head.

Bro?

***

"Gaara! Are you okay?" Temari looked panicked seeing Gaara's flushed face as he stood in the doorway.

"I'm... hurting." He rubbed his eyes aggressively and shook his head. Temari hurried over to him and sat by his side and rubbed his hair.

"Do you think this has to do with your bond?" She asked softly and he leaned into her more, craving any type of comfort. His body felt as if it were being pulled apart from every direction.

"Yes." Was his short answer and Temari sighed and rubbed the back of his neck which was burning hot. "I'm so cold." He whispered and Temari's lips formed into a thin line. She didn't know what to do. She heard of ninja being separated from their mate because of missions but it was never this bad. It had been months since Gaara saw Lee and he wasn't getting any better. It seemed as if he were before, but lately he got worse. 

"The alliance is going to be set in stone soon and then we can make a trip to the leaf village if you'd like to." Gaara nodded silently against her and she held in a sigh. With everything her brother had done over the years, she never wanted anything like this to happen to him. Who would've thought that out of anyone he would find his soul mate? And even more importantly, who would've thought that his soul mate would reject him?

Temari felt a burning hatred in her stomach but kept it at bay.

"You smell angry." Gaara mumbled and Temari smirked at that. Sometimes it was weird that her baby brother could now scent her moods. Omega had more sensitive noses than alphas. Omega could scent any emotion no matter how slight. Alpha could scent only really powerful emotions. 

"I am but it isn't anything to do with you." Temari responded calmly.

"Don't be mad at Lee. I wouldn't want me either." Gaara's tone wasn't sad, it was more of stating a fact. In that moment, Temari fully realized everything her father put her brother through and she couldn't help but get angrier. And a little sad.

***

"Lee, what's wrong?" Gai asked and Lee squirmed on the outside bench. Gai had taken him for a walk which was nice. Since his leg was still messed up and would continue to be until his surgery, he had to stop frequently. 

"I am not feeling very well, Gai-Sensei. I feel ill." Lee left out the overwhelming sadness he felt too. Gai must've noticed it.

"Hey, did you hear about the sand village?" Gai decided to mention to hopefully lift up Lee's spirits. Lee looked up, still not looking any better.

"What about them?" Gai hated the sad look in his eyes and he hoped this would cheer him up.

"Word from the Hokage is we're forming an alliance with them. Turns out, Orochimaru killed the Kazekage and impersonated him. Apparently, that's why they were in the war. They're searching for a new Kazekage now but it looks like our alliance with them is sealed. This means more missions with both villages. Plus, we'll be able to visit and vice versa!" It all sounded lovely in thought. Lee couldn't help but feel more miserable hearing that. At least before, he was just a useless alpha who was forbidden to see his omega because their villages weren't on good terms. Now he was a useless alpha with an omega he rejected that he could now see but there wasn't a point.

"That is great, Gai-sensei." Lee responded, not sounding a bit happy. Gai frowned and even without smelling him, Lee was able to tell he was sad. Lee couldn't bring himself to try to cheer him up. He missed Gaara and he was almost certain Gaara didn't miss him.

"Don't worry, Lee. Your surgery will go by fantastically tomorrow and you'll be able to do the things you've wanted to get done. You'll see." Gai assured and Lee just nodded absentmindedly. 

Gai would do anything for his star pupil to be feeling well again. He hoped Gaara would feel the same. He wasn't sure if he damaged their relationship by not letting them mate. That would make all this his fault and Gai didn't like being the cause for Lee's unhappiness, even if it were only partly.

***

"Hey bushy-brow! How did the surgery go?" Naruto asked excitedly and Lee glanced up from his hospital bed and gave him a thumbs up.

"Excellent! She says I should make a full recovery!" Lee announced and Naruto cheered.

"That's amazing!" Sakura gushed happily and hugged Lee on his bed and he hugged her back. The hug felt weird. He wasn't sure why.

A while later when he had a fully packed room, he noticed a conversation. Naruto Choji, Kiba and Shikamaru were all discussing a mission to retrieve Sasuke. Lee felt an overwhelming stab of disappointment being unable to join the mission but he told them they should bring Neji.

Lee really wanted to go. He wanted to get out of this damned hospital. He'd been here for months and he was sick of it. He even had his birthday here (not that anyone showed up, it wasn't their fault they didn't know.) He just wanted a sense of normalcy. 

After everyone was done congratulating Lee for successfully getting through the surgery that should've killed him, they all left his room slowly. Sakura was the last but in the end, she went too. Lee stared at his hands ball into fists on his lap. Naruto and the others left a few hours ago to get going on the mission. He wanted to go!

Lee wasn't sure if it was the alpha in him that was so insistent on going, but he knew that he couldn't stay in the hospital for one more second.

He threw the covers off of him and stood, for once only feeling slight pain. He was sure he could do this mission! He grabbed the vial of his medication off the side of the bed and quickly got dressed. He shouldn't waste any time! He needed to catch up with them!

If he did not, he would run 300 laps around the village! With a look of determination, Lee sprinted out of the hospital, making sure there wasn't anyone there to tell him he needed to stay.

Tsunade and Gai stood in the hallway and watched Lee run off. Tsunade shook her head with a slight smile and Gai smiled proudly.

"Your student of yours is going to over exert himself." Tsunade commented and Gai shook his head.

"No. I think he'll be just fine." They walked into his room and Tsunade frowned at the fact that he didn't bring his medication with him. "What's wrong?" Gai asked when Tsunade had a look of slight panic in her face.

"Lee... grabbed sake, not his medication."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone.
> 
> Sorry about the delay. I've had a lot of difficult times lately.
> 
> If you could leave a review or something that would be lovely. I could use some cheering up.
> 
> Enjoy.

Chapter 10

 

Lee was determined. He'd been in bed for so long (even with his sneaking out to train, he was still in bed a lot more than he'd wanted to be) he was just itching to get back outside. It was nice to be free enough to let the wind hit his face as he dashed through the village.

He would help them return Sasuke! He just had to! It was probably a bit conceited of him to think that he would be the one to tip the odds in their favor, but hey, he was just feeling unstoppable!

Lee felt the sloshing of his medicine in his pouch and frowned at the thought of taking more medicine. He really was sick of the stuff but he had to return to his 100% self. How else did he plan on getting his omega back?

His omega...

Lee's mood dampened. He suddenly was reminded of the heavy weight he felt on his entire body. He just wanted his omega. 

He couldn't let that keep him down! He would reconcile with his omega when the time came. He just had to! Lee nodded to himself with a resolute look on his face and pressed on, tracking the ninja that left before him.

***

"Wait wait, what does the letter say?" Kankuro grabbed it from Temari's hands and Temari scowled at the rudeness of it.

"Do you mind?" He ignored her and Gaara walked into the room. "Hey Gaara." Gaara nodded his head in her direction.

"Who is that letter from?" He asked, mainly because Kankuro had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"It's the Hokage! Says here they need help getting Sasuke back. I knew they'd call us in on this. Come on bro, get ready. We should leave right away. Looks like he's heading towards the sound village. Not good. We better cut in quick." Gaara nodded slowly and turned back to go change his clothes.

Temari raised up from her seat and snatched the letter back, narrowing her eyes at her brother. He smiled in retaliation and Temari rolled her eyes and quickly made her way to her room to get ready for the mission. She was itching with excitement. 

Once she made sure she had everything, she walked out of her room and saw Gaara standing in the middle of the living room in clothes she'd never seen him wear. He looked good, he looked grown. Suddenly she couldn't remember watching him grow up. She felt a pang of regret and Gaara turned to her and had a curious look on his face.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He nodded and followed her out of the door.

"Guys! Wait up!" Kankuro stumbled down the stairs, somersaulted, and stood up, rushing out to meet them. Gaara rolled his eyes at the sheepish look on his face and Temari shook her head.

***

"We're getting closer." Temari announced and Kankuro's nose twitched and he tried to place the smells. He felt like he could smell different people from all around the forest. 

"Who do you smell?" Kankuro asked and Temari scented the air.

"It smells like they've... separated. Um... I smell... Shikamaru, that guy I fought in the exams... the dog guy... and the really annoying blonde kid."

"We should break up then." Gaara said easily. "They're broken up into three, there's three of us." Kankuro nodded and Temari sighed, not really wanting to separate but knowing it was their best bet. "You take Shikamaru." He looked at Temari, then to Kankuro. "You take the Inuzuka kid and I'll go for Naruto." 

"Okay. Let's all try and meet up once everything is over." Gaara nodded at Temari's words and they all went in different directions.

***

When Lee finally caught up, he was amazed to see that he only found Naruto. How strange. Naruto was in the midst of a battle with a man with white hair. 

"Huh? Bushy-brow? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked amazed. The thing Lee was most amazed with, was the fact that Naruto stopped fighting and gave him his full attention despite the battle. And the other guy stopped fighting too just to wait. That was the most polite thing he'd ever seen.

"I will fight him, Naruto." Lee insisted. "You must go find Sasuke." Naruto grinned.

"I appreciate that, but aren't you... not doing too hot?" Lee shrugged.

"I will be fine, thank you for your concern. But really, I feel like you could be more useful to the mission by trying to find Sasuke. Do not worry, I will fight my hardest. If I do not win, I hope to give you plenty of time to get ahead."

"Thank you Lee." Naruto smiled warmly. 

"It is my pleasure!" Lee gave him a thumbs up, then turned his attention to his opponent. "My name is Rock Lee and I am here to fight you."

"..." He seemed confused at the bravado Lee had but didn't say a word. Naruto stood by Lee's side and Lee knew he had to distract this guy in order for Naruto to sneak away. That shouldn't be much of a problem. 

Lee charged into the fight, a lot differently than he normally did. He wanted to give Naruto a quick escape. 

While Kimimaro was distracted, Naruto quickly fled the scene of the fight in an urgent attempt to locate Sasuke. 

"Now I see. You were a distraction." The man said and Lee smiled sheepishly.

"Yes, but do not be so averted. I will beat you." Kimimaro was impressed by the boldness and let himself smile, only slightly. He realized this would be more interesting than he thought. He was sure to paint the forest with his blood when this was through.

Lee was upset to realize how quickly he lost the upper hand. Kimimaro was a very skilled fighter and he was realizing that perhaps he couldn't take him on.

That was no way to think! Lee thought to himself angrily. I will do my best and not succumb to negative thoughts!

Lee approached the fight with more heart than he entered it with. It seemed no matter how hard he fought, Kimimaro just kicked him down several pegs. It was getting grating. The fight seemed almost completely one sided.

"Wait!" Kimimaro paused his next attack at the exclamation. He straightened himself out, lowering his defenses. Lee reached into his pouch. "I apologize. It is time for me to take my medicine. I just had surgery; I am trying to get better. Again, I apologize for the interruption." Lee drank the medicine and cringed at the taste. He swore it tasted way different when he was in the hospital. Maybe it was just because he was depressed and everything tasted the same? 

"Thank you for your patience. Let us continue." Kimimaro nodded and got back into his fighting stance. Lee charged at him again with impressive speed and Kimimaro blocked it easily with a bone from his arm. 

The fight continued like that for several minutes until something about Lee changed. He got sloppy, he was swaying, his cheeks were stained pink and his eyes were half lidded.

"Whacha got for meee?" He slurred and Kimimaro tilted his head to the side. What on earth was wrong with this kid. "Doncha lookatt me like tahtt." He stumbled around and Kimimaro wondered to himself what the hell was in this kid's medicine. 

"...Are you drunk right now?" Kimimaro asked finally and Lee had the grace to look offended.

"You tsake thaaat baack! Guy-Sssensei would be sssso maad if I drank." Kimimaro raised an eyebrow but decided to go on with the fight. Ordinarily he wouldn't push the fight so much but it was Lee's fault for drinking in the first place.

Lee stumbled around on the grass for a while, Kimimaro just stared in confusion. Lee threw his fists around and almost fell over.

"Hey. S-stop mov... stop moving." Lee grumbled, attempting to hit the air in front of him, still standing several feet away from Kimimaro. Then he just stopped punching and sat on the ground and stared in front of him. Kimimaro could not comprehend what exactly was going on. Lee's eyes looked up and met with Kimimaro's. He was on his feet in an instant.

"DIDN'T ANYONE TEACH YOU ITSS IMPOLITE TO STARE?!" Kimimaro's eyes widened and he defended himself from an onslaught of fists. Lee was faster than he was before. It was incredible. What was in that medicine? Lee was in front of him before he had time to blink. Kimimaro narrowly avoided the onslaught of fists Lee was throwing his way. He was able to block him for the most part, Lee managed to get one hit in before stopping. Lee stumbled backwards on wobbly legs. 

He's faster than before...

Just like that, Lee fell asleep right on the ground. Kimimaro tilted his head to the side and walked over to his sleeping form. Lee was up instantaneously and laughed gleefully.

"A-HA YOU FELL FOR IT!" Lee grabbed the bone from Kimimaro's hand and started punching and got enough momentum to punch him back a few feet. "It only LOOKED like I was sleeping when in reality I was wide awake!" Lee bragged loudly. 

Lee began to talk to a ¬Guy-Sensei about how proud he would've been and then fell to the ground asleep again.

What is going on?

Kimimaro walked over to Lee again and before he could make it the whole way, Lee rolled up into his face and laughed.

"Looks like you fell for it AGAIN. IF you honestly think I would fall asleep in the middle of the battlefield, you are sadly mistaken..." Lee said gleefully and then frowned. His vision was starting to blur together. What was he doing? "Where... am I?" Lee collapsed to the ground for the third time. 

Kimimaro took this as an opening to end the battle with the sleeping ninja and walked over. He attempted to stab him several times, getting frustrated each time Lee was able to dodge out of the way.

Lee's eyes opened and he threw Kimimaro backwards.

"What is wrong with you? Can't you see I am trying to take a nap!" Lee easily avoided Kimimaro's attacks with his drunken fluid movements. Finally Lee roundhouse kicked him in the side and Kimimaro flew back again. 

The fight continued with them being almost completely evenly matched. Kimimaro would attack, Lee would deflect and vice versa.

Eventually everything was to repetitious for Kimimaro's liking and he sighed. In an instant his curse mark began to spread through his chest. Bones began coming out of his body.

"My Kekkei-genkai is this..." He explained. He delved further into details but Lee couldn't really focus on it right now. His kekkei-genkai was bones? That was simple enough. Bone's break, don't they? Lee decided to test the theory and charged at Kimimaro as quickly as he could and tried to land a fist on him. Unfortunately it wasn't successful and it actually quite hurt a lot. 

Fighting Kimimaro wasn't exactly easy, but once the curse mark was activated and his bones came out to play, Lee was feeling the impending doom of losing completely. He couldn't think that way. It was his job to distract Kimimaro as long as possible! He needed to do this for his friends. Naruto needed him. Lee felt himself come out of his drunken haze, now feeling groggy. 

He didn't even recall getting blood on his face, but here he is. 

Lee began to unwrap his gauze from his arms. He could open the first gate. He knew he was still recovering and yeah that sucked but he really needed to give this as much as he could. 

Lee charged forward and took off in a ridiculously quick speed, creating almost a tornado around his opponent. Kimimaro was impressed by the speed but he wasn't too worried. Lee opened the first gate, his gauze wrapped around Kimimaro's body. Just as he was landing his big hit, the bones shot out and stopped his foot, absorbing all of the force. Not one of them broke. Lee was baffled. He couldn't believe it. Bone stopped that? After all of the effort he put in, it was just stopped like that?

More of Kimimaro's bones grew and he didn't waste time with launching another attack. This one really took a lot out of Lee having been stabbed several times by the bones and then tossed aside like garbage. Lee laid on the ground. Was this how it ended?

His nose twitched. He supposed he was so close to death he was smelling things but he could've sworn he smelled his mate. It would be the greatest feeling if he could see Gaara one last time.

Lee's eyes closed and the bone came incredibly close to his face. The smell of blood was overwhelming. He didn't even feel Kimimaro cut him but the smell of blood was there, what else could it have been? Lee let his eyes peek open when he felt what felt like sand cradle his body underneath him and pull him back. 

Lee's eyes shot opened and he looked around. 

Gaara.

Gaara was here. Gaara was here. Lee's heart was racing in his chest and the sand gently placed him on Gaara's side. Gaara didn't spare him a look just yet, but stood in front of him, acting as a shield. Lee couldn't stop the feeling of warmth as it spread through his body just looking at his omega. He couldn't find it in himself to feel ashamed that he was being protected by an omega. He was being protected by his omega. His omega was here to help him. How did he even find him? 

"Gaara." Lee's voice was soft and it made Gaara's heart ache painfully I his chest. "Gaara you're here."

"Who are you?" Kimimaro asked and Gaara's face remained unchanged.

"An ally of the leaf."


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh I wanted this chapter over so badly. It took forever (not really forever but a lot of effort into writing something I didn't feel like) but it's okay because the fight is over and now I can actually start with the romancing!

Chapter 11

 

"A leaf ally? Well, I suppose that's good for this one. He isn't very good." Kimimaro said, mainly to himself. To Lee's surprise, Gaara scowled and showed his teeth.

"Don't you insult him." He demanded and Kimimaro tilted his head to the side at the aggressive tone in his voice. He looked at the two of them in wonder. Lee stood up and took a step closer. Kimimaro noticed how Gaara tensed up. What was going on with these two? Did they like each other or not?

"Gaara, thank you so much but you don't have to do this." Lee said softly and Gaara scoffed.

"Hurting your ego, alpha?" Lee blanched and shook his head quickly. "Don't want to be protected by an omega?"

"N-no Gaara! You have it all wrong. I-I just... This is not your fight and I would not want you to become hurt because of it." Lee exclaimed and Gaara nearly rolled his eyes.

"Am I hurting myself because I'm incapable-"

"Gaara." Lee said gently. "I believe in you. I know you can win. I just do not want to see anything hurt you regardless of if it is fatal or not." Gaara's eyes bore into Lee's and Kimimaro was surprisingly minding his own business for the time being.

"Then let me fight for you. Rest." Gaara glanced down at the ground, suggesting Lee sit. Lee nodded, but remained standing. "It's my turn to fight you now. You're going to lose."

"Such cockiness for an omega." The statement wasn't taunting, it was more like a surprised statement. Omega are rarely so bold. Gaara was a completely different entity than the other omega. Lee beamed with pride. Who knew having Gaara as his destined omega would make him so proud all the time?

"I would highly suggest getting used to that. I'm not going to submit. To anyone. You're a beta, you should understand." Kimimaro nodded slowly. He wasn't used to being around omega so meeting Gaara was a completely new experience. Orochimaru liked to have betas for the most part. He heard Sasuke was an alpha, which could very well be a problem. Orochimaru didn't like omega, he said they were distracting for everyone with their sweet smells. 

It wasn't that Kimimaro didn't believe him, but with everyone else being a beta, it was hard to see that. For example, standing in front of Gaara he found himself completely undistracted. Part of the whole deal with omega was that their smell was so enticing. Betas couldn't really scent anyone. 

Orochimaru also disliked alphas because they were too aggressive and Kimimaro was almost positive he didn't want another alpha around because he was one himself. With Sasuke, it was completely confusing to everyone because the Sanin had hoped for Sasuke to be an alpha. 

"I don't find you very distracting, omega." Kimimaro said simply and Lee almost blurred out an easy for you to say but thought better of it. 

"I can't help but agree. I don't find you distracting in the slightest." Gaara's eyes flashed back to Lee's briefly and Lee's face heated up a bit. He could almost hear Gaara say "but he's very distracting".

Being this close to Gaara was heaven. If he just moved a foot closer, he'd be able to feel Gaara's skin. He could smell that smoky fire smell that was so irrevocably Gaara. The irony of Omega supposedly smelling sweet and not musky was not lost on him. 

Lee had to blink himself into focus. He missed the first attack of the fight because he was so immersed with being right next to his omega. He wanted to end the fight just to cuddle with Gaara (Gaara probably wouldn't let him, he didn't seem to be a cuddling type.) 

Kimimaro seemed to not take Gaara as seriously as he should've. Underestimating the omega was probably the worst thing you could do. Lee watched Gaara in amazement as the stone faced teen stood with his arms crossed and controlled the sand completely unmoving. His attacks were quick and precise. Kimimaro moved in a way that no movement was wasted, it all was well formulated and he was able to dodge the sand quite well. 

"You only have whatever sand you carry, I'm not concerned about it. Just have to get you to run out of sand." Gaara's face remained unchanged and Lee worried if Kimimaro was right. Could Gaara run out of sand? Was that possible?

Gaara stoically continued to control his sand about with minimal movement on his part. Sometimes when he was like this, Lee was amazed he wasn't a statue. 

No, a statue couldn't smell this good. 

Just like that, Lee was distracted by Gaara again. Now that he was paying attention, he noticed that Gaara had gone through a growth spurt while he was away. The five months had done a lot in growing mind and body wise. Gaara was still shorter than Lee, but it wasn't as drastic as it was at the chunin exams. Also, his clothes were different, a deep red color that made his eyes stand out even more. He looked more sophisticated, it was alluring. Everything about Gaara drove him crazy. He loved it.

When Lee shook himself out of his daydream he noticed that Gaara had made it rain sand and now there was sand wrapped around the legs of Kimimaro. Lee looked around trying to be perceptive and noticed Gaara was funneling his sand into the ground to grind up the dirt further to create more sand. Lee grinned at Gaara's genius and held himself back from hugging him. Gaara was seriously a skilled fighter. And he didn't even have to move!

The sand formed a cocoon around Kimimaro and Lee was gleeful.

"You did it!" Gaara shook his head and raised up his arm.

"Not yet..." With a clench of his fist, the sand tightened and was now stained with more blood. The smell of blood permeated the air and Lee felt the need to cover his nose. Gaara seemed unbothered.

"That man reminds me of Sasuke. His eyes." Gaara said quietly. "They want to prove themselves." Lee was taken back by the sentimentality of the statement. With a reputation like the one Gaara had, he never realized Gaara could see people's emotions by their eyes. 

Kimimaro broke out from the sand coffin with some trouble. He then stood on bow legs and stared Gaara down. Lee examined all the damage Kimimaro went through and was gob smacked that he was still alive. He had so many gaping holes in his body, how could he have survived? Now, Kimimaro's body was completely covered in the curse mark from before. Was that how? He knew the curse mark was strong, but most people (if not all of them) died from that jutsu. How did he live? 

"Impressive pressure. I would've died had I not created a membrane of bone beneath my skin." 

"That guy's a monster too. Bones?" Gaara commented and Lee frowned.

"Troublesome, isn't it?" Lee sighed.

"I underestimated you. I won't be caught in your sand again." Something flared in Gaara's eyes. He put himself in a deeper squat position and it was the first time Lee actually saw Gaara use his hand signs to create a jutsu. Not only that, he did them quickly. With how little Gaara usually moved, he was surprised to see that when he actually had to, he did it so effortlessly. 

From underneath their feet, a wave of sand emerged, completely taking Lee by surprise. This was an insane amount of sand. Gaara didn't speak his jutsu, which was also strange to Lee. He'd never seen someone do voiceless jutsu. Lee didn't need to know the jutsu, he gathered what it was about by the movement of the sand. It was a giant sand tsunami. 

There was no avoiding it from this point. The sand was everywhere. There was enough sand that it was able to turn the forest into a dessert. Gaara managed to completely change the terrain of the battlefield. Lee stared at him in awe.

"You did it." Gaara shook his head again. He knelt to the ground and placed his hands on the sand.

"Not yet." He did a bigger version of his previous jutsu, sand burial. Lee braced himself but still found that he was stumbling all over the place. Once everything settled down Lee looked determined.

"You had to have done it this time, right?" Gaara looked disappointed and sighed.

"He's so persistent..." He was still alive?! 

When Kimimaro came out from the sand this time, he was a completely different form. Gaara frowned and Lee stared in mild horror at the creature that was now Kimimaro. He really looked like a demon. Gaara cursed to himself and tried several times to crush him with sand, only to have Kimimaro avoid it easily each time.

Lee was getting extremely anxious with the movements of Kimimaro. He was getting closer and Lee didn't know how he'd protect Gaara in this state. He was sluggish and in terrible pain. He would've been dead a while ago had Gaara not shown up to fight with him.

With him? No. For him. Yes. 

Kimimaro came barreling through the sand and even Gaara's last wall of sand didn't even come as a hindrance. The speed he attacked Gaara at was so great, Gaara was thrown into the air and back a ways away. 

"Gaara!" Lee's eyes were wide and Kimimaro frowned.

"That's the great sand defense I've heard so much about? Disappointing." Lee growled and saw clumps of sand crumbled off of Gaara's face. "You're wearing sand too." Kimimaro pointed out but Lee barely heard that. He was blinded by rage. How dare he hurt his omega? 

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!" Lee growled, eyes turning to slits. He was at Kimimaro's side in an instant and launched an attack. Unfortunately for Lee, Kimimaro was in a lot better shape than he was. Especially at this point. Lee could barely stand up straight. Kimimaro easily deflected the attack and went to go in for some serious damage but Gaara stepped in and protected Lee with his sand.

"Don't you touch him." His voice was so angry, so alpha. "Lee I have this. Don't worry so much." Gaara was standing up straight easily again and Lee scowled. He didn't want Gaara to fight alone. He didn't like seeing Gaara be thrown across the battlefield. He shouldn't be so mad, Gaara was right. He was more of a hindrance than anything at this point. 

Lee thought he'd seen everything but when Kimimaro pulled out his spine, he almost threw up. This was easily the most disgusting kekkei genkai he'd ever witnessed.

In one quick movement, the whip-like spine wrapped itself around Gaara. Gaara had just enough time to protect himself with sand and honestly looked like he was bundled nicely in a blanket. 

Bones began to form around Kimimaro's arm to a point. Gaara listened with vague interest at his spiel about how strong his bones were and how he was going to kill him. It was nothing he hadn't heard from someone else before. Gaara quickly summoned a shield jutsu, strong enough to protect him from whatever hardness the bones were. Kimimaro thrust his arm towards the sand shield.

Lee's eyes grazed over Gaara's figure. He knew that the smell of blood was thick through the air, but usually he was able to smell a hint of Gaara's chakra. Gaara had so much chakra it would be amazing if he were unable to smell it. Since he couldn't smell it now, his heart dropped. How low was Gaara's chakra? How much more could he take?

Gaara wasn't like Lee. Lee never really had chakra so everything he did was based on what his body could do. Lee'd never seen Gaara actually fight with his body. It was always with his sand.

Lee's body was reacting to Gaara even more so now. Gaara's body was weak and Lee wanted to run over to him and take care of him. That wouldn't really work in the midst of battle but that's what he wanted anyway. He was so powerful! Lee tried to knock his excitement down, he was beginning to feel like a fanboy.

Gaara used his sand to break the whip wrapped around him and started on another jutsu. This one acted like a sink hole and Kimimaro was dragged underground. Gaara didn't breathe easy just yet, he had a feeling it wasn't over still. This guy really didn't know when to die. It was frustrating, really. Gaara frowned and stared at his hands. His chakra was almost completely gone. He couldn't keep this up. He was exhausted.

Gaara gave Lee a look and all the exhaustion was suddenly worth it. Lee was safe. He didn't even know he was coming here to protect Lee but that made it all the better. He was able to save his special person and that's all that mattered. Hopefully, he'd be able to get away in the event Kimimaro was still alive or all of this would have been for naught. Gaara idly wondered how his siblings were fairing in their fights. He had faith in them, he was sure they'd be fine.

"Gaara? Do you think it's finally over?" Lee's voice was literally the most beautiful thing Gaara had ever heard. He was so unlike any other alphas, he was so soft. Everything about him was soft. He didn't have harsh edges. Gaara really liked that about Lee.

"I'm not sure. I hope so." Gaara tried to stand on both feet but it was pretty hard with all of his power drained. 

Suddenly bones began to push out of the ground dangerously. Gaara was almost impaled but remembered how he used to float on his sand and quickly used the last of his chakra to get himself and Lee to safety above the field of bones. They were both hovering close together and Lee was panting heavily. Gaara looked at him and couldn't help but agree. This whole fight was ridiculous. 

"I think he's dead now. I don't think he's coming back up." No sooner did the statement come from his lips, did Kimimaro pop up from the bones, using them as a way to move his torso. With the last of his strength he tried to kill Gaara and Lee screamed and jumped over to Gaara to protect him with his body. Lee was hovering over Gaara for a few moments before he realized no pain came. He opened his eyes and Gaara was staring at him with a mixture of what looked like amazement and confusion. They both turned their heads and there was Kimimaro, dead. Finally.

"You saved me." Gaara stated calmly. Lee looked flustered.

"Well... not really, even if I did not move you down, he would not have reached you. You would have been safe either way." Gaara shook his head at Lee's easy dismissal.

"You could have died." Gaara said, squinting his eyes, still with confusion. "You jumped over me with the intention of dying. Why would you do that?"

"I would do anything to protect you." Lee said seriously. Gaara just stared at him amazed. "Gaara, I would really like it if we could talk before you left again." The look of sadness in Lee's eyes pulled some heartstrings on Gaara and he nodded firmly and levitated them to solid ground. The second their feet touched the ground, Lee propelled himself into Gaara's arms and held him tightly.

It was the nicest feeling Gaara had felt to date. The warmth of the hug, the smell of his alpha, feeling his heart beat erratically through his shirt. Gaara pulled himself back before he could get too comfortable and Lee sulked at the loss of warmth. With his condition right now, he wanted to snuggle up to Gaara as much as possible. Without much thinking, Lee leaned in and kissed Gaara on the corner of his mouth. 

It wasn't the fireworks people describe their first kiss to be, it was better. There was a heavy feeling in his body after that said this is where I'm meant to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yasss. Finally. A kiss of some sort. Next chapter could get pretty intimate if y'all ask nicely. And I still never decided what Naruto was. Also who should transition next?


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very disappointed. I didn't get a single comment last chapter :(

Chapter 12

 

Gaara and Lee sat against a tree and stared at the sky letting themselves think for a while.

"What about the others?" Gaara asked suddenly and Lee turned to face him. He looked so worn out. Lee's heart ached.

"I am not sure. I arrived and saw Naruto facing our opponent and I told him I would take care of it and for him to go look for Sasuke." Gaara nodded curtly and turned his attention away from Lee. Lee felt distressed at Gaara easily brushing him off like that. He had to remind himself that Gaara just used ALL of his chakra to protect him and he felt a world better.

"You said you wanted to talk?" Gaara looked at Lee dead in the eyes. For whatever reason, the gesture was strangely erotic. Omega never really held eye contact, but Gaara was staring into the depths of his soul. 

"Yes." Lee didn't dare say another word. He was so close to Gaara and his mind was short-circuiting by the closeness. Lee breathed in the scent of the flames and shivered when he smelled something else. He smelled something beautiful. There was a light undertone of honeysuckle and if Lee were standing, it would send his knees buckling. The smell was so sweet.

It was the beginning of Gaara's heat.

Gaara felt his body begin to react to his alpha now that they weren't in imminent danger. Every time he spent prolonged time near Lee, he was sent into his heat but he supposed that it was better that way. Most omega go into heat frequently during their first year. Gaara only did when he was with Lee. Which sounds more logical than whenever his body wanted to.

Lee's smell was more intoxicating than normal. His normal crisp apple smell turned into something even sweeter. Lee smelled like fresh baked apples with a hint of cinnamon. How could someone smell that good? Gaara's face flushed, his vision was getting hazier. Since it was only the very beginning of his heat, he easily had most of the day to prepare before he forgot all of his self-respect and attack Lee blinded by lust.

"Gaara, I want you." Lee said softly and Gaara frowned. "What?"

"You're saying that because I'm going into heat." Lee's scent changed so quickly from apples to the smell of damp air in the autumn.

"How can you say that?" Lee asked, clearly hurt by the accusation.

"You didn't want me before..." Gaara said simply and Lee reached out and touched Gaara's arm. Gaara flinched and Lee wondered why.

"Of course I did." He admitted quietly. "I wanted you so bad, even before you went into heat the first time. My sensei told me I should not mate with you because I was too young and I listened to him." Gaara scowled at the mention of Lee's sensei. "We're very young, Gaara. That does not mean I do not want you. I was scared that you would realize what a loser I was, and not want me, and be sad that you were stuck with me after we mated. I am sorry."

"That sounds like something you should've talked to me about before you made the decision for the both of us." Gaara's scent wasn't fire anymore; it was just the smell of burning. It wasn't pleasant. 

"Gaara I am so sorry." Lee apologized frantically. "I thought if I talked to you, then I would not have the strength to let you go. And I was wrong. For that, I am so sorry. I have not been myself, everything hurts and I hope so much that you do not feel the same pain I do." Gaara pursed his lips slightly but said nothing. "Please, Gaara. You are my destined mate."

"Is that the only reason you want me?" Gaara didn't sound accusatory. It was something Lee was always surprised at when Gaara spoke. He said things like facts; he rarely put emotion into his words. "To have an omega?"

"Gaara, no!" Gaara was surprised by the overwhelming emotions he heard and smelled from Lee. There was no tricking him with words, Lee even smelled distressed, he smelled apologetic. It was hard to hold any grudge on Lee. "All my life I have been told I was an omega. I read about omega. I learned how I was supposed to be treated as one. They are very rare in most countries, especially here in Konoha. I trained very hard every day with my sensei because I was trying to be the best shinobi in the village so they would not make me stop being one after I was an omega. They would have been so impressed with me, they would have let me continue my training. 

"When I turned out to be an alpha, it was crazy. I was feeling emotions I was not aware I had. I did not know I could get so jealous or angry. I did not prepare for this. What I hear about you is that you were brought up as an alpha. Now you have to deal with emotions I already have to deal with. I am here thinking, why are we trying to be what we are not? I physically want you as an omega because chemically that's what we are. But I do not want you as my omega. I want you as my alpha." Gaara looked at Lee completely confused. "Hear me out. I will always act like an omega, no matter what I do. The only times I do not act like one is when my hormones are so crazy I cannot control them. You are different. You act like an alpha. Why are we going to change just because that's what we are? I do not care if people think we are unusual for that. I think a part of why we are together is because of how we were raised. If I were to be paired with any other omega, I could not do it. Mentally I do not need an omega. Mentally I am an omega. I need someone who is an alpha. And I believe you need the same."

Gaara looked thoughtful at Lee's words. There were no emotions to smell, he just smelled like Gaara. The sweetness in his scent was more prominent that before, but Lee could still tell Gaara wasn't mentally 100%. 

"Gaara if you let me, I would be honored to be your omega." Gaara stared at Lee, when would he cease to surprise him? 

"You would lower yourself to be someone's omega?" 

"Don't say that! Alphas are no better than anyone. Omega keep families going. They're the backbone to many different clans. It is an honor to be an omega." Gaara tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Are you saying that because you thought you'd be one?"

"Since I thought I was going to be an omega, I read a lot of books on them. They really are special." Gaara nodded slowly. 

"Okay." He bit the inside of his lip in thought. "I would like to be your omega then." He decided and Lee's grin took up most of his face until the words sunk in.

"But I-"

"Lee, I am physically an omega, I don't mind. You say a lot of pretty words, but the truth is I am an omega and you're an alpha. That's fine. Just because that's what we are, it doesn't confine us to specific standards. We'll be who we are." Lee's smile was beautiful and Lee lunged forward and devoured Gaara's mouth in a kiss.

A tiny peck of the side of the mouth was enough to mesmerize Lee. Kissing Gaara full on set his insides on fire. Every point in his body woke up and was on high alert. He could feel everything on his skin. Gaara's lips were chapped, probably because he was from the dessert. Lee made a note to buy him some chap-stick and make sure he was properly hydrated. All that didn't distract him from how good it felt to have Gaara's lips on his own. 

Gaara had no idea what he was doing with anything. He was so overcome with emotions and feelings he'd never had before. How do you react to someone kissing you? Aside from kissing them back, what else was there to do? What should he do with his hands? Where did they go?

After an internal debate, Gaara wound up grabbing Lee by the collar of his shirt and deepening the kiss. He inwardly hoped that was something people did when they were kissing. Lee sat up more to get a better vantage point, nearly straddling Gaara's lap. Gaara let go of his grip on Lee's shirt and pulled him in close, making Lee sit on his lap. Gaara's hands rested on Lee's hips and they continued kissing like they'd been starved for it. 

Lee was the first to pull away; he just needed to make sure this was real. Gaara's body was so close, he couldn't smell anything but the sweet smell of honeysuckle in his arousal. Lee let himself whimper, something he was sure alphas didn't do, but no other alpha had Gaara. 

"Why did you stop?" Gaara asked quietly against Lee's lips.

"I had to look at you." Lee admitted and cupped Gaara's face. Such smooth skin for someone who uses a sand shield regularly. Was that really good for exfoliation? "You are beautiful." Lee rubbed his thumb across Gaara's cheek. 

"That's a weird thing to say to a guy." Gaara commented and Lee laughed. Lee's laugh had a tendency to lift Gaara's spirits. It was so carefree. "What?"

"Nothing. I am here, sitting in your lap and I cannot help but feel so lucky right now." Lee kissed Gaara's forehead. "I think we should head back to the leaf village though. You are about to go through heat and you need to be somewhere safe." Gaara frowned.

"What about you?" Lee gave a sheepish smile.

"I would love to accompany you, Gaara. However, I do not believe it is time for that. Do you really want children at 14?" 

"I would do anything you wanted me to." The sheer honesty of that statement almost had Lee backpedal. 

"You smell so good, Gaara. I would love nothing more than to give you whatever it is your body wants me to give you. I just do not think you are in the right state of mind right now. When we mate, I would like it to be because we both agree it is the best thing, not our hormones. Is that agreeable to you?" Gaara frowned and it made Lee worry.

"Considering how I go into heat whenever I'm near you for longer than an hour, I'd say that will come to pose as a problem eventually. But, if that's what you want to do..." Lee smiled softly at Gaara and kissed him again. Gaara bit back all of his self-control to keep himself from ravishing Lee right there.

"Come on, Gaara. Let us get you to safety." 

***

Gaara walked behind Lee, eyes on the ground. Lee had unknowingly given him an order so it was up to Gaara to fulfill it. He was lost in thought about their whole ordeal. He felt like he was in the right state of mind to give his complete consent. His heat hadn't gone full-blown. He could still tell Lee what he wanted. Just because Lee was afraid he would change his mind didn't mean he would. 

"Lee?" Lee looked back, he was in a daze the entire walk trying to keep himself at arm's length from Gaara. He hadn't even noticed how submissive his omega looked. Lee really wished he didn't like that so much. 

"Yes Gaara?" Gaara looked up at Lee and met their eyes. Gaara really had the most beautiful eyes Lee had ever seen.

"I was thinking. We could still bond without mating." Lee's face turned bright red. That was what Gaara was thinking about? That was the sweetest thing he'd ever heard. Lee actually teared up a bit.

"You want to bond with me?" Lee wished his voice didn't waver like he was going to cry.

"Yes." Gaara said it with a furrowed brow like he was confused why Lee would think he didn't want to. "Not a very smart question." Lee covered his eyes for a second and rubbed them vigorously. "Are you ok?" Gaara walked over to him, arms crossed still and tilted his head trying to look under Lee's hands. 

"Y-yes! I am more than fine!" Lee looked up and his eyes were pinkened and glossy with tears. "My whole life I never thought..." Lee paused for a second, his eyes were full of tears now. "Never thought someone would actually... want to be with me... Especially bonded to me." 

"Is that a yes?" Gaara asked, not knowing how to console his future-mate. Lee nodded, his lips pressed into a tight line and a few tears spilling down his face. Gaara still couldn't understand the waves of emotion he was smelling from Lee. There was one thing that was certain. Lee sure was an omega at heart.

"Here?" Lee shook his head and held Gaara's hand.

"No. If it would be okay with you, I would like to do it some place special." Gaara nodded slowly and followed Lee, walking side by side.

***

"Where is this?" Gaara asked and Lee smiled warmly at him. They sat on a cliff perched over a waterfall. Everything was beautiful, especially the leaves around them. Konoha was known for their leaves, after all. 

"This is my favorite place to be when I am alone. I love to look at the water. It is so free. All of the flowers down there off the cliff around the spring. It is beautiful. I used to come here and think about how my life would be if I finally found... companions. And I have. These past few months have been wonderful. I have made friends I never thought was possible. I never used to have friends. Until I started the academy, I did not have anyone. Then I had my sensei. I was paired in a team that did not seem to like me very much. Things have changed. Neji is very nice to me now. Tenten was never mean to me but she is now warmer. I have made friends with Sakura, Naruto and several others. And now I stand here with pride, looking at my future mate. I have everything I ever wished for as I stood here. It was only fitting that I bring you here." Gaara examined everything around them. 

Being in the dessert he never knew the true beauty of water like this. It was amazing, honestly. Imagining this much water in Suna seemed wasteful, but here, nature just did it on its own. 

"Thank you for bringing me here, Lee." Gaara said finally and looked up at Lee. He didn't think he'd ever become tired of looking at Lee. Even the goofy things about him just filled Gaara with this weird warmth he never thought was possible. Lee smiled shyly and sat on the edge and patted down next to him. Gaara had never seen that gesture but sat down because he felt that was what Lee wanted. Lee smiled at him again so Gaara knew he'd done the right thing.

"Are you sure you want this?" Lee asked quietly, leaning into Gaara. Gaara turned to face him, their foreheads nearly pressed together.

"I wouldn't have asked for it if I wasn't sure. You could guarantee that." Lee's grin stretched across his face. Gaara noticed his fangs. Omega had fangs too but alpha fangs were much larger. It was weird seeing it in Lee's teeth. Lee didn't seem the type to have such vicious fangs and now when he gave his toothy grin, it looked kind of sinister. 

"Would you like to go first, alpha?" When Gaara called him an alpha, it still sent shivers down his spine. The way Gaara said the word was unlike anything else. Lee nodded and leaned in scenting Gaara's neck. Gaara tilted his head out of the way, giving Lee complete access to his neck. Lee's tongue grazed up the side of Gaara's neck and he shivered with anticipation. Lee gave a gentle kiss to his picked spot and leaned in with his mouth wide open. 

Gaara felt the plunge of Lee's fangs pierce his neck and couldn't help but wince at the sharp pain. Lee latched on for longer than Gaara thought was necessary and then pulled his fangs out slowly and licked up the blood that leaked out. 

"It is your turn, Gaara." Lee whispered, lips pressed to Gaara's ear. 

Lee pulled down his turtleneck to give Gaara the spot he needed and moved his head to the side. Gaara moved his head down to Lee's neck. He inhaled without meaning to and was so distracted by Lee's smell he almost forgot why he was there. 

Gaara gave a tentative kiss to the base of Lee's neck and wet it with his tongue. Lee's skin was salty with sweat and Gaara wanted to lick the entire taste off of Lee's body. He opened his mouth and bit Lee gently, but hard enough to sink his teeth into the flesh. Lee let out a moan which both surprised and excited Gaara. Gaara pulled away from the bite mark and lapped up the blood, feeling how it gave Lee goosebumps. 

It didn't take long for them to feel the effects of the bond. Gaara was amazed with his mood change. It wasn't that he was in a bad mood before, but now he could feel Lee's mood as his own. He'd felt happier than he'd ever felt before. And it was just because now he felt Lee's happiness. This was incredible. Not only smelling Lee's mood but also feeling it too?

And Lee's smell changed. Only slightly, it was barely noticeable. Underneath his apple smell he also had a subtle smell of wood chips. Now anyone close enough to scent him would be able to tell he was mated. Gaara couldn't count on the bite mark considering Lee wore his shirt up most of his neck. But he liked Lee's clothes that way. He just liked Lee. Everything about Lee.

Gaara's scent got sweeter after Lee bit him. Gaara's smell was a thick smell of flames. Now, Lee could swear he smelled marshmallows. It was such a nice smell.

Lee grabbed Gaara's face and kissed him. He couldn't stop himself. He was staring at his mate now and this was his special person. His forever person. He didn't want to be apart from him ever again. Lee kissed him as aggressively as he knew how. He didn't let up on the kiss. He climbed on top of Gaara, pinning him to the ground beneath them. Gaara kissed back with much vigor and it only drove Lee crazier. Lee couldn't even pinpoint where his emotions were right now. He had so many. And now he couldn't tell his and Gaara's apart.

Gaara was smelling sweeter and sweeter the more Lee kissed him. Lee felt more drunk now than he did after the sake and had to force himself to stop. When he pulled away and opened his eyes, he saw Gaara laying beneath him. His face was pink, his lips were well kissed and his hair seemed messier than normal. Lee felt himself losing his control on the situation. Gaara was getting so close to his heat, Lee could feel it.

"Are you stopping?" Gaara asked and as much as it pained him, he nodded his head and tried to push away from Gaara.

"What if I don't want you to?" Lee stared at Gaara surprised but when he focused on it, the only feeling he got from Gaara was arousal. Lee's eyes widened. They sped up the process and Gaara was in full blown heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No comments=no smut
> 
> <3


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING* ADULT CONTENT AHEAD. I WARNED YOU

\

**Chapter thirteen:**

 

"Oh god, Gaara..." Lee was smacked in the face by the stimulating scent of his mate in heat. His body trembled. He physically couldn't move his body off of Gaara's if he tried right now. "My omega..." He purred and nuzzled Gaara's neck, licking the mark. Gaara was squirming under Lee, Lee could feel Gaara's erection and for the first time, Lee was without shame. He was so blinded by lust, he didn't care what he did, as long as it felt good for him or Gaara.

 

"My alpha." Gaara whispered and Lee's erection ached in his pants. He didn't understand how one word could set him off like that, but it did. "I want you, alpha. Are you going to deny me?"

 

"Fffuck no." Lee panted; sweat beading on his forehead as if he'd ran a marathon with heavier leg weights. "You want me?"

 

"In every way." Lee didn't need more than that, he started helping Gaara pull off his clothes. Lee tugged off his own hitai-ate from his waist and yanked off his green spandex. There was no gentleness in anything they did. Everything was aggressive and needy. They devoured each other's mouths with kisses and Lee gave Gaara a few more love bites all over his body. Lee couldn't help himself, Gaara's skin tasted so sweet.

 

Lee kissed all over Gaara's body, savoring the taste and finally he let his eyes graze over Gaara's cock. When Lee read about omega, one of the things said about them was they were supposed to have small penises, around 4 inches. Lee passed that a while ago, but he was amazed to see that Gaara's was bigger than 4 inches too. If Lee could guess, it would be about 6-6 ½ inches. Gaara was also uncircumcised, which was interesting, considering Lee's was circumcised. Lee pulled back the skin on the head of Gaara's cock just to see how it moved and Gaara whimpered. It was the most delicious sound Lee'd ever heard. Lee grasped it firmly in his hands and pulled his shaft all the way down until his hand was met with Gaara's red curls. Lee shaved, himself, but seeing Gaara's unshaven cock was more appealing than anything he'd seen.

 

Lee leaned in and placed a kiss on the tip of his head and Gaara thrust his hips up desperately. This was another interesting thing about Gaara. Each touch to Gaara's cock had Gaara withering underneath Lee, like it was the most pleasurable thing ever. What Lee read was that omega prefer the stimulation of penetration over any other form of pleasure. Lee was curious.

 

"Gaara..." He whispered and sent a lick up Gaara's cock. Gaara fisted the grass under him. His face was flushed and his eyes were completely glossy. "Would you like to penetrate me?" Gaara's gaze darkened, he looked so possessed by lust. He sat up quickly and pushed Lee to the ground and climbed on top of him.

 

"Are you offering?" Gaara asked breathlessly and Lee nodded quickly. The thought of Gaara inside him made his insides shiver with excitement. He wondered if it was because the taboo concept of an omega topping. That thought again sent a wave of pleasure down his spine.

 

"Please, Gaara." Lee begged, spreading his legs out. Gaara raked his eyes over Lee's body and Gaara's hand reached down to his own sopping wet opening. He took the lubrication and used it on his own cock and slid his fingers inside himself. Lee watched the display and couldn't control his breathing. The sight was sensual and he didn't know what to do with himself.

 

Gaara took his fingers out and leaned down to Lee's opening and used his lubricated fingers to massage the outside of Lee's opening. For a minute, Gaara just teased him with rubbing the outside of it until Lee was getting more impatient. The more impatient Lee got, the more he acted like an alpha. He would growl and hiss, bearing his fangs. Gaara found aggressive Lee to be quite the turn on.

 

Gaara slid a finger into Lee and his head fell back with a moan. Lee was strangely adaptable and Gaara half wondered if he'd done this before considering Gaara pretty easily added more fingers much quicker than he felt normal. He didn't care to ask at the time.

 

Once he felt like he'd stretched Lee out enough, Gaara lined up his cock to Lee's prepped hole and pushed in. The heat was intense. Lee's body was so tight and hot. Gaara had to slow himself down from fully sheathing himself inside Lee. Lee's ass wriggled against Gaara's hips, making Gaara fall deeper inside him. Once Gaara was completely inside, he stared at Lee in the face until Lee looked at him back.

 

"Do you like that I'm inside you, alpha?" Lee mewled at the feeling. It was better than he imagined.

 

"Move." Lee demanded and Gaara didn't hesitate to comply.

 

Gaara was rough, a lot rougher than he'd be with someone who was a virgin, but Lee couldn't find himself caring. It was forceful, aggressive, possessive and even greedy movements and Lee basked in it. He tried to lift his hips up higher to help Gaara get in deeper.

 

The way Gaara was fucking into him made Lee feel like Gaara was just using his body for his own pleasure and even though it was an omega thing to think, it excited him. He _wanted_ Gaara to use him for pleasure. He _wanted_ Gaara to fuck into him so aggressively that it hurt. Lee didn't know where this was all coming from.

 

Staring at Gaara's face twisted in pleasure made Lee's erection pulse with desire. Gaara wasn't staring at him, his eyes were half lidded and he was biting his lip. His face was tinged red and he was sweaty everywhere. He was so _sexy_. Lee grabbed Gaara's neck and pulled him close for a kiss. He mashed their lips together and they shared a needy, messy kiss. They used way too much tongue and there was so much saliva everywhere, but they'd already passed the point of desperation. It was a primal desire. Lee wanted to be even closer to Gaara.

 

Gaara's nails dug into Lee's hips with each thrust. Lee wasn't sure if it was necessary to keep Lee in place for him, or if Gaara was being overly rough. Either way, Lee loved the feeling and found himself hoping it would draw blood. Who knew he had a rough kink?

 

Gaara pulled himself completely out and Lee opened his eyes to stare in confusion at Gaara. He missed the fullness of the feeling.

 

"What are you doing?" Lee asked, breathing heavily. Gaara flipped him over so Lee was on his stomach.

 

"Get on all fours." Gaara demanded and Lee scrambled to comply. Gaara used more of his slick to tease Lee's hole and Lee pushed his hips backwards to meet Gaara's fingers. "Getting impatient?"

 

"Please, I need you." Lee begged and Gaara smirked at Lee's backside. He had such a wonderful body... Gaara was overcome with lust and grabbed Lee's hips again and pulled him down on his cock painfully slowly. He wasn't really thrusting his hips into Lee, but moving Lee's body to go up and down his cock.

 

The movements were too slow for Lee and he tried to speed them up, missing the roughness. Gaara's hands squeezed Lee's sides with a warning and Lee stopped his movements but only for a moment. He was getting so crazy for it, he needed to finish.

 

Gaara didn't touch Lee's cock once. He had a theory he wanted to test out and hoped Lee could keep his hands off of himself. They say only omega can orgasm through anal penetration. Gaara wanted to know if he could get Lee to come undone without touching him. The thought was exciting. His alpha being his needy omega. Begging him. Alphas don't beg. They take what they want.

 

Lee was right before. There was no way Gaara would be satisfied with a different alpha. And for damn sure Lee wouldn't be satisfied with a different omega. The thought brought a smirk to Gaara's face. He pulled out slowly and rammed himself back in, feeling the need to pick up the pace. Lee moaned in relief and curved his lower back to hike up his ass more in the air so Gaara had a better vantage point.

 

Just like that Lee was filled with a burning pleasure. It felt so good in the pit of his stomach down to his groin. The burning sensation of an upcoming orgasm. Lee couldn't believe it. He could feel himself get close and a part of him wondered...

 

"I'm so close..." He gasped, grabbing at the dirt beneath him. Gaara slowed down slightly and Lee almost cried. "Please, harder. Alpha." He choked out and calling Gaara his alpha set something off in Gaara's mind. Gaara pushed Lee's upper half to the ground and pulled his lower body closer. Gaara's movements were erratic and needy. They were also delectably rough. "Alpha..." Lee's voice hissed and the more he called him alpha, the rougher Gaara got.

 

The burning feeling in his stomach started getting tighter and tighter until he was right there and he begged and cried for Gaara. Gaara happily gave him his well needed orgasm and Lee's cock twitched with the pulsations of his orgasm, spraying the ground under him. It was such a powerful orgasm, Lee's shoulders sunk and it felt as if his body was numb. He could vaguely feel Gaara's rough movements through the high of his orgasm.

 

The tightening of Lee's hole after he finished, sent shivers down Gaara's spine. He was so close now. Right there.

 

Gaara wasn't loud when he came. He made a soft grunt and inhaled deeply. He continued thrusting lazily into Lee until his cock softened and slipped out of the very wet hole.

 

Both of the boys sat in the grass, breathing heavily, trying to contain themselves.

 

After 5 minutes of heavy breathing, Lee turned to Gaara and gave him a beautiful smile that Gaara couldn't help but return with a small smile of his own. Lee sat up and winced, but stayed seated. He pulled Gaara to his chest and laid down. Gaara was listening to Lee's heartbeat and felt so soothed in the moment he actually wanted to go to sleep.

 

"That was amazing." Lee said finally and Gaara glanced up at him. For whatever reason, Gaara assumed once Lee was back in his right state of mind he would feel wrong about taking the omega's position. He chided himself for thinking that. Lee was different; Gaara liked that the best about him. "Are you still in heat? I cannot smell it."

 

"Probably over all the sex smell it's difficult to place." Gaara said quietly and hugged closer to Lee. "But oddly enough, I don't feel like I'm in heat. We should rinse off and head somewhere that if I am in heat, I don't have to deal with knotheads." Lee laughed at that.

 

"With the way you move, I do not think any of them would want to top." Gaara let himself smirk and they both stared at each other in the eyes. Lee leaned in and kissed Gaara chastely. He tasted like home. When they pulled away, Lee took a good look at Gaara and reminded himself several times that he was looking at his mate. His forever person. That was the most wonderful feeling, to find the person that you feel so close to. He felt badly since he still didn't know much about Gaara but he knew they had plenty of time to learn. He wanted to know everything about Gaara.

 

"What is your favorite color?" Lee asked suddenly. The question took Gaara by surprise. The randomness of it and the fact that he wasn't sure if he had a favorite color. He liked the color red. He also was growing increasingly fond of green.

 

***

 

They walked back to the village side-by-side. Lee was sure a few people stared at them. Even though they'd rinsed off in the body of water, they were newly mated so it was a very strong smell. Lee wondered idly if it was a pleasant smell or not.

 

Having all of these people look at them like " _I know what you did_ " gave Lee an odd rush. He knew everyone that could smell they mated would assume Lee was on top. The fact that Gaara topped just excited him.

 

"You getting excited again?" Gaara asked quietly, smirking a bit. Lee blushed and rubbed his arms, trying to will away the scent of him getting eager to go.

 

"Yes, I suppose I am." Lee admitted a lot more calmly than he thought he was capable of.

 

"Do you want to top me this time?" Gaara asked and before Lee could respond, Gaara saw his sister. "Temari? What's going on?"

 

"I was looking everywhere for you. I just wanted to see if you were okay. I took Shikamaru to the hospital because there's a lot of people injured from that whole Sasuke mission. Oh, I see you've found Lee." Gaara wondered if Temari scented that they were mated yet.

 

"Yes. He was fighting Kimimaro when I arrived. I arrived a few minutes too late for Naruto. How is he doing?" Temari nodded.

 

"They say he should be fine. They all took quite a beating. You look okay, so does he." Temari gave a nod to Lee and Gaara scoffed.

 

"Was I supposed to not protect him? Let him get beat up? No. That's why we're both fine." Temari went to say something and her nose twitched. Gaara bit back a smirk. It took her long enough.

 

"What a minute. She smelled the air again and looked back and forth at the boys that stood in front of her.

 

"Yes?" Gaara feigned ignorance and she scowled at him.

 

"You two are mated?!" When the hell did that happen? Why hadn't Gaara told anyone?

 

"Yes. We mated just before we came back." Temari scanned their necks. Now that she was looking she could see half of the ugly red markings of a mating bite on his neck. She had no such luck with Lee's neck, it was completely covered.

 

"Well would you look at that..." She grinned at Gaara. "Wow, I didn't think the day would come. Gaara this is so great, I'm very happy for you." Gaara didn't comment, mainly because she was embarrassing him with how much emotion she showed with that. She also hugged him and he stiffened slightly before relaxing into the hug.

 

"We're going to have to talk about this later, you know that right?" Temari asked and Gaara looked confused. "You two live in different villages. We need to talk about this. This is a serious matter. You can't live in two different places from each other. It isn't healthy... You know what, don't mind me right now. Go have fun with Lee for now. I'll see you tonight." Gaara nodded and Temari was on her way.

 

Gaara sighed at her comment. He hadn't even thought about the probability of one of them moving away from their homes. He wondered if it would be himself moving. He didn't have much to live for over there. Then again, he was Gaara of the Desert, not Gaara of the Leaves.

 

Lee cut into Gaara's internal debate after a few minutes of silence. He gestured the door in front of them.

 

"Here it is. My home." Lee smiled warmly at Gaara and Gaara smiled back and followed his mate into his house.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written a sex scene since Nam. Anyway, let me know how it was. To all my dedicated readers, thank you for commenting, it makes my day. And I have a new GaaLee story up. It's 3 chapters so far. Check it out!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends, sorry this took so long. I've been suffering from bad migraines for the past week. I've been wearing sunglasses inside and blankets on my head. But I'm high on pain medication so here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen:

 

"Lee! I've been waiting for you to get back—" Guy was standing in the middle of Lee's apartment, which was actually quite small but Gaara found it cozy. "Oh. Hello Gaara." Guy inclined his head at Gaara. Gaara had his arms crossed and he just stood there and stared at Guy.

"Guy Sensei!" Lee said with much surprise. "What are you doing here?" 

"After you ran off from the hospital I decided to check in your apartment every now and again to see if you were back. I got here when I heard the others were brought to the hospital but you weren't there." Guy stared at Gaara and Guy's face colored a bit. "I see now why you weren't with them."

"Oh!" Lee's face turned red. "Well, the Hokage actually asked the three sand nin to help with the mission. I went to relieve Naruto from his fight with Kimimaro and I was getting beat pretty bad. I was lucky to have Gaara show up! He saved my life!" Lee said happily and stared with pride at his omega. "I am so lucky to have you!" Gaara's face flushed slightly and he didn't say anything.

Lee really didn't like how quiet Gaara got around his sensei. He knew it was just irritation though. He wondered if Gaara and Guy-Sensei would ever get along. Lee sighed. 

"Gaara, do you mind if I talk to my sensei?" Gaara frowned and nodded regardless. He walked to the door, not sparing a glance and walked outside. "Guy-Sensei-"

"You two mated." Lee blushed.

"Yes but-"

"-Lee you're so young! What if Gaara were to get pregnant?-" Lee colored for an entirely different reason.

"-Guy-Sensei we-"

"-I tried really hard to make sure you could live your life as a child, not an adult. You aren't ready-"

"-It is not like that-"

"-to make this kind of commitment-"

"-Sensei! Please!" Lee said hysterically and Guy paused and frowned at his star pupil but stopped talking over him. "Yes we bonded. We did not mate. Not in... that way. I appreciate you very much, sensei and I know you are looking out for me. I am so thankful for you. But Gaara is my soul mate. I am sad when he is not around and when he is I feel... like all the years of no one caring about me or acknowledging me were worth it if I would end up with someone as great as him. And for once I do not feel like a failure. I have always felt like one. When I thought I was an omega I thought my body failed me. Now that I am an alpha I feel like my mind fails me. Gaara is perfect for me. He is an alpha where I was not conditioned to be and I am an omega where he is not. I love you Guy-Sensei. You have done so much for me. Please, please do not be upset with me. I could not bear it." Lee took a deep inhale of breath and stared at Guy's feet.

Guy stayed in the same spot for a moment before tilting Lee's chin up. They met eyes and Guy had tears streaming down his face.

"Lee! My star pupil! You can do anything! Even in the harsh reality of youthful love! If Gaara means that much to you, I'll try to get over it. I hope you know I just want what's best for you." Lee smiled widely at his sensei and enveloped him in a hug. 

"Guy-Sensei!" 

***

Gaara got tired of waiting, and honestly a tad bit annoyed he was made to wait. He started strolling around Konoha in an attempt to occupy his time. He was not a fan of waiting.

What did he have to talk to that loser sensei about anyway? Especially something Lee didn't want him to hear. What kind of conversation is had where you aren't able to let your mate listen in? 

"Gaara!" Gaara looked up and saw Kankuro walking towards him. "Glad to see you made it. Not that I thought otherwise... Hey..." Kankuro's nose twitched. "Are you... bonded?" Gaara gave a slight nod and Kankuro grinned at him. "Oh wow. Congratulations. I can't believe it. My little brother has a mate. Before I do. That's so sad for me." Gaara raised his brow and started walking down the dirt road with his brother.

"Have you seen Temari?" Gaara asked and Kankuro shook his head.

"Nah. Have you?" Gaara nodded again.

"She saw me when I first arrived in the village. She tells me that everyone lived?" Kankuro chuckled sheepishly.

"Yeah. Everyone is alive; unfortunately, the mission was a complete failure. Anyway, I'm on my way to see the Hokage-sama. Would you like to join me? She said she wanted to talk to us. I can't seem to find Temari anywhere though..." Gaara gave a small shrug and joined Kankuro in walking.

***

"Why don't you let your mate in so I could properly introduce myself?" Guy offered and Lee beamed happily. 

"Of course! That would be wonderful, Guy-Sensei!" Lee bounded to the door and threw it opened to reveal... nothing. Lee furrowed his brow and looked outside the door. "Gaara? Gaara!"

"Where do you suppose he went?" Guy asked and Lee frowned. He supposed telling Gaara to give him and his sensei privacy wasn't the best way to go about things. Gaara was like an alpha so he got jealous easily. This was bad. Where could he be?

"I am not sure. Maybe his siblings would know?" Guy nodded at the possibility and both of them left the apartment in search for Lee's mate.

***

"So what is going on?" Gaara asked once he saw that nearly all of the Suna elders were present in the room as well as Tsunade, the Leaf village's Hokage. "Is there some sort of problem?"

"No Gaara." The head elder spoke, he looked... displeased, however. "We needed to discuss some political things with you and we figured it would be best to do it here, all things considered." Gaara stood up straighter. What could this be about? "As you all are well aware, your father, the 4th Kazekage passed away some months ago and we've been without one." The sand siblings exchanged confused glances and nodded anyway.

"We're here to appoint a new Kazekage. And you all know that it's a position you inherit. So that means the position goes to one of you." The room was tense.

Temari figured she wouldn't be getting the position because she wasn't trained well enough on it. Suna had never had a female Kazekage so her father had never trained her to become one. Their best bet was Kankuro since he was an alpha and he was male and older than Gaara. 

Gaara knew he wasn't getting the position. Sure, he'd been helpful to the community the past few months, doing odd jobs and helping everyone out. He was also the only omega. There had never been an omega in charge, ever. Not in any of the villages. He assumed it would be Kankuro as well.

Kankuro hoped to god it wasn't him.

"And what did you come up with?" Temari asked boldly. She really didn't care, she knew it wasn't her so it wasn't like she was going to irritate them into deciding not to have her be Kazekage.

"We've looked at several factors in deciding. Strength, intelligence, adaptability, political knowledge-"

"Gender and status?" Gaara commented dryly and the elder frowned at him.

"Not necessarily. Sunagakure is going through a difficult period right now and we need something to help our people. Looking into all these factors, we also agreed on change. We've decided the best person for the job, is you, Gaara." Gaara's eyes widened slightly and Temari and Kankuro gaped. "By your power alone, you are unparalleled; your intelligence is some of the best we've ever seen. You could've done better with adaptability, however considering everything in the past, right now you're adapting just fine. We do believe your father, Rasa, has left you with enough knowledge there is to run Suna with the help of your advisor, we were hoping would be your sister, Temari."

"So not only are you having an omega lead the village, you want the advisor to be a woman?" Temari asked slowly, like she wasn't completely understanding. "That's never been done in our village."

"Exactly. We're looking for change. Do you accept?"

Temari said "Yes" at the same time Gaara uttered an "I'll think about it."

"What?"

"I said, I'll think about it." Gaara repeated.

"But this really isn't-"

"Listen, I just bonded with my mate and I would like to discuss this with him. This is not me asking permission to my alpha to do something, this is me taking my leaf village mate into consideration before dragging him through this with me." Gaara said calmly with a frown. The council seemed surprised at the fact their future potential leader was already mated. They didn't expect him to find someone so quickly. Whomever the young man was, had to be impressive.

"Then, by all means, go to your mate. Just be aware, once you approve your title, you're going to go into a training period for about a year before you can take the seat as Kazekage." Gaara nodded and turned around and left the building.

Temari quickly followed after him.

"Gaara, are you okay?" She asked and he stopped and looked at her, eyes slightly narrowed.

"Why do you expect they picked us, Temari?" He asked and she thought for a moment but couldn't think of an answer. "They could have easily made you Kazekage, you have more knowledge and you're an alpha. So why tell the omega they picked him? And all of my decision making has to go through you before brought to the elders for council. Let's not forget the obvious, why didn't they choose the male alpha of the siblings with Kankuro. None of this makes any sense." 

"Gaara, I don't think you should be thinking of it that way. We finally have a chance to change things in Suna. You know how backwards they are. We can raise awareness on omega and make people stop looking at them as weak all the time. This is honestly a step forward and I'm surprised you aren't more for it." Gaara frowned at her but his eyes remained calm.

"Forgive me for not jumping for joy over the prospect of running a village that hates me." Temari paused and her demeanor changed.

"I'm sorry, Gaara. It isn't that I forgot, I just-"

"Didn't think about it that way?" Temari nodded and Gaara looked away from her deep in thought.

***

"Why don't you tell me a bit more about your omega while we look for him?" Guy asked, sensing Lee's panic. Lee slightly mellowed at the idea of talking about Gaara and spoke faster than Guy had ever heard him speak before.

"Gaara is fantastic! He is so strong and amazing. He is very thoughtful and I can tell that he really cares about me. I never really got that with another person, besides you of course, Sensei. Gaara just cares about me on another level. It is very amazing to see him work. He is like magic. I can tell he is going to go far in his life. People have told me that Gaara was crazy and unstable but I do not see that with him. If there ever was that with him, it is not there anymore. I think you would really like him, given the chance to get to know him, sensei." Lee beamed up at Guy and Guy was touched. He knew the idea of Lee finding someone was there, but he didn't know it was right there. His young protégée was becoming a man right before his eyes!

Guy became misty eyed and he put his hand on Lee's shoulder.

"Lee! You must promise me!" Guy announced dramatically and Lee saluted him.

"Yes, Sensei!" 

"You must protect your mate with your life!" Tears ran down their faces and they hugged, despite the weirded out looks they garnered from onlookers. "Sometimes, no matter how strong omega are, they need someone to look after them. Make sure you look after Gaara in whatever he does. And a lot of people are very set in their ways, so make sure you're there for him when Suna decides... he can't be a shinobi anymore. It will break his heart but you must be there for him, do you understand?" Lee nodded aggressively and they set out to find Gaara.

***

Gaara finally scented Lee and began walking in the direction he could smell him from, while Temari followed close behind him.

Temari saw Lee before Gaara did, her height had its advantages. She also got to see her brother's mate's face light up and a grin stretch across his face when he noticed Gaara. Temari smiled despite herself and watched Lee rush over to Gaara.

"Gaara! Where did you go? I was so worried!" Lee exclaimed and Gaara noticed Guy approach them slowly. How odd.

"I had a meeting with the Hokage and the Suna council." Gaara said simply and Lee's heart dropped and he caught Guy's eyes briefly and they shared a look before Lee turned back to face him.

"I'm sorry, how do you feel?" Lee asked and Gaara looked at him confused, not knowing how Lee found out first but then assumed maybe the Hokage asked Lee his permission first since Lee was his alpha.

"It's going to be hard but how else am I going to make a change?" Lee had no idea what that meant but nodded anyway. "If I accept I have to go out for training for a year." Lee furrowed his brow.

"Wait, what do you mean? Training? What are you training for?" Lee asked and now Gaara was even more confused.

"To become Kazekage. I thought someone told you." Lee's and Guy's eyes widened comically wide and they stared in awe at Gaara. "You didn't know?"

"Gaara! That is such an honor! Oh my goodness! I thought since you were an omega they would tell you that you could not be a shinobi but that is exactly the opposite!" Lee smiled so wide it looked painful.

"I'm not sure I feel the same way. I do believe it's an honor but it's a lot of work. I wanted to talk to you about it before accepting the position. This wouldn't only affect me, but also you. I have no idea what we would do while I went out to train to become Kazekage. Also I know you're very fond of your village. I can't run Suna while living in Konoha." Lee realized the importance of this decision and turned to face Guy.

"Excuse us, we need to go talk. It was very nice seeing you Temari." Lee bowed his head and outstretched his hand and Gaara took Lee's hand in his own and was led away from Temari and Guy.

***

Lee sat them both in a clearing just outside of Konoha. It was another place Lee liked to train, Gaara could tell by the poor tree that seemed to be completely kicked in. 

"So what do we need to talk about exactly? I guess... are you going to accept? Can I go with you while you train or do you need to be alone? If I go with you to your village where would I stay? Would I be a shinobi of the leaf village or would I switch to the sand village? I have so many questions I do not know where to begin." Gaara watched all the questions pour from Lee's mouth and he honestly didn't know how to answer most of them.

"Oddly enough, I am not going to train to become Kazekage in the sand village, it's a long process going to a lot of different places and training there. I will go to several villages we have alliances with to strengthen them and talk with them and in return with our alliance we teach each other different things and set up a trade of goods. Along with that I have to find new potential alliances and meet with them as well. I will have strength training as well but I don't know how that goes, my father never informed us. Once I became Kazekage, you would be able to live with me, of course. Although I am unsure where you would be while I train, I don't know if I can bring you with me but I will ask. You are more than welcome to wear your leaf headband if that's what you want, I would also be honored to give you your own sand headband. I'm learning this as I go, so I'm sorry if I don't have all the answers." Gaara looked away from Lee and sighed. It was so much strain on a new relationship. A new bond was supposed to be treated sacredly. They were supposed to be able to spend at least a month together to get a new routine down and now they might be pulled apart.

As ironic as it is that they were soul mates, there were a lot of forces ripping them away from each other. 

"It would be an honor of mine to be the mate of you, especially you as a Kazekage. I would love nothing more than to spend whatever time I can with you. Even if that means leaving my village. I would drop everything for you, Gaara." Gaara stared at Lee in wonderment. Those are words that he sort of expected Lee to say but a the same time, he never expected to hear them. 

Something changed inside Gaara. He knew he wasn't the cold killer he used to be, that was decided long ago. Now, staring at Lee, he knew he was something else entirely. 

A Kazekage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if my readers to this story know, but I have two other GaaLee stories too! You should check them out!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus, I am so sorry about this. I have such bad writers block with this story. I honestly don't know where it goes from here. I know it can go anywhere but I really just have no idea. Thank you everyone for reading. Here's a chapter.

Chapter 15:

The wind was whipping around, making Lee's hair fly everywhere but he stayed firmly in his defensive stance. Across from him, Gaara stood. Gaara and Lee decided one thing the Kazekage to be should learn is better offensive strategies. 

They set out with the Hokage's permission 8 months ago and have been traveling from certain villages to others to form alliances, speak with alliances they already had, and just get some experience with politics. 

Kankuro and Temari had joined them. Temari since she was now the advisor of the Kazekage, and Kankuro, simply because he was their relative. Baki was there too and several body guards. 

They all stood by and watched the fight between their future Kazekage and his mate. This happened at least several times a week. It was impressive seeing them now. Gaara was amazing with his sand, everyone knew that. However, for these matches, he didn't use his sand as a shield. He was attempting to use most of the fighting techniques Lee did. Gaara knew he was slow. It started out pitifully. Now he could balance his jutsu with his fighting significantly better.

People were surprised that the sand didn't protect Gaara if Lee landed a hit. That's the reason why they chose to fight each other. The sand wouldn't hurt Lee, he was Gaara's mate. It's what made this training easier.

"Come on, Gaara. Let us dance." Lee called with a grin. "Your move." 

Gaara's arms were crossed and he tilted his head with a frown and narrowed his eyes. The expression never failed to excite Lee. It was such an alpha stance, he loved it.

"You are eager to lose, Lee." Lee laughed at the banter.

"I will not lose! If I do, I will do a thousand laps around the village!" Gaara just shook his head and slowly got into a position to fight. They watched each other for a while but Gaara decided it was his turn to fight. He hadn't started a fight in a while.

Lee was amazed with how his speed grew. Gaara still couldn't hold a candle to his own speed, but it was a lot faster than Gaara used to be! He used to just stand there and do nothing.

This was different. Lee looked at Gaara charge head on, suddenly, he was gone. He disappeared in a gust of sand right as he made it to Lee. Lee spun around as quickly as he could to be met with Gaara behind him. Gaara sunk to the ground and kicked Lee's feet from the ground. Lee tumbled but pushed his hands out and flipped back onto his feet a few yards away. Gaara looked up and smirked. Lee returned the expression. 

This was right. This was nice. And Lee knew he was irrevocably in love with the man that stood not too far from him. Even with the skillful punch Gaara managed to land. Lee smiled at the contact. He grabbed Gaara's arm and twisted it. Gaara grabbed Lee's shoulder and flipped over to behind Lee. They did this dance often.

They began fighting hand to hand, close combat. It was fast, Gaara was keeping up. It was good. This was another thing Lee usually had the upper hand in. 

This time, Gaara had the upper hand. As he was landing hits on Lee, he began to do several seals. Lee knew what that meant. He looked down, foolish mistake. Gaara got a nice hit on him then. Lee fell to the ground, still being cautious. Suddenly sand was crawling up his legs. He looked at Gaara's victorious look. Lee gave him a grin and pulled the weights from his leg warmers before the sand could cover them. Gaara stared confused and suddenly, Lee was gone. 

Gaara frowned. Without his weights, Lee was nearly impossible to deal with without his sand shield.

This was going to be a long fight.

***

Temari had to stop the fight a few hours later. She scolded them for not eating and Gaara sighed, but Lee knew she was right. He was starving.

They all made it back to the place they were staying at so Gaara and Lee could shower. They were covered in sweat, dirt and sand. Not that Gaara was a foreigner to having sand everywhere. 

Temari let them into the room and left so they could get ready. Lee helped Gaara take his clothes off so he could examine Gaara's body for any bruising. Gaara bruised easily when he didn't have his sand armor. Lee insisted that Gaara still wear it but lately, he hadn't. 

"You should really-"

"Lee." Gaara said in warning. Lee frowned. How Gaara managed to act like that as an omega, he never found out. He also didn't know why it was so annoyingly attractive. "Let's just take a shower, hm? I'm sure you're hungry. You always are..." Lee grinned sheepishly and Gaara climbed into the tub. He was gorgeous naked.

Lee joined him, kissing him a minimal amount. He was weak and very hungry after all. His mate just smelled so good. It as a lot less overpowering now that Gaara was on heat blockers. They needed it for this period. Gaara wanted them, Lee obliged. Considering they couldn't be next to each other for longer than an hour without setting Gaara into another heat, they figured it would be for the best.

Gaara was kissing Lee's jaw. It was a nice feeling. Gaara liked taking a shower with Lee. It was nice, intimate, and very quick access when necessary. Lee wrapped his arms around Gaara's naked body and pulled him close, letting the spray of the shower wash over them. Gaara laid his head on Lee's shoulder. One of the few times Gaara acted any type of submissive was when Lee towered over him and hugged him. He was able to get Gaara to do almost anything when he did that. Which is why he didn't do it often. It was a comfort thing, he didn't want Gaara to grow to hate it. 

"You're very warm." Gaara said and Lee nodded.

"I have been working out. Quite a bit. My body is very tired, it is nice."

"Are you running around the village?"

"Did you want me to? It was a tie, but I will." Gaara shook his head.

"No. I would rather you stayed with me today."

"Of course, my love." Lee kissed Gaara's forehead. "Now let us get clean. I am very hungry."

***

By the time they arrived at the designated spot, Temari and Kankuro had ordered the food already.

"Oh thank goodness. I am so hungry." Lee sat down in his usual spot. Next to Gaara, across from Kankuro. He dug into his curry and Gaara sat down next to him across from Temari.

"Thank you." Temari nodded and watched her brother eat slowly.

"You alright bro?" Kankuro asked in-between eating his food.

"Yes. Just my arms are tired is all." Gaara had mellowed out a considerable amount since they've travelled. Not that he was high maintenance, but he was humbled by the journey. It was nice to see him grow as a person. Temari could really see him becoming a great Kazekage.

"We got a letter from Suna. They want us back. They said they think you should go over training there for a while. We were wondering if we should drop Lee back off in Konoha for a few days so he can say hi. He can meet us back in Suna at any time." Gaara looked to Lee.

"Is that something you would like to do?" He asked, then took a bite of his rice.

"Uh. Wow. It has been a while since I have been there. If you would not mind, I would like to visit." Gaara shook his head.

"Not at all. Do we head out tonight?" He asked and Temari laughed.

"No. You two would collapse with how much you've been fighting. We'll go when you two wake up. I packed everything, I'd say we, but Kankuro isn't helpful." Kankuro stopped mid bite to glare at her. "What? Did I lie?"

"No." He said, muffled through food.

"Exactly. Don't talk with your mouth full please. You're gross." He rolled his eyes at her.

"So how long would you like to stay in Konoha?" Gaara asked Lee, ignoring his siblings bickering across the table.

"Would a week be too long?" Lee asked and Gaara shook his head.

"I think we've established the bond enough where it wouldn't hurt. Or at least, hurt too bad." Lee nodded. The past few months have been a great bonding experience. In more than one way he was able to see why Gaara was his soul mate. They just clicked well in every aspect. It was hard to be simpatico. 

"I will miss you in any case. I will make sure I get to Suna in two days!" Gaara frowned.

"Lee, it's a three day journey."

"Not if I run the whole way!" Gaara shook his head and sighed.

"Lee, don't hurt yourself."

"I will not hurt myself! I give myself two days to get back to you! If not, I will do 1,000- no! 2,000 pushups!" Gaara sighed again. He would never get used to the strange punishments Lee forced on himself.

"What if you're too tired to even talk to me when you get back?" Gaara asked with a slight pout. He knew certain ways omegas manipulated their alphas. Alphas do not like pouts from their omega. Lee seemed even more prone to making sure Gaara got what he wanted.

"But..." Lee went to say and he stopped and sighed. "I will make sure I do not tire myself out. How about two and a half days?" That gave Lee 12 more hours.

"I accept."

***

Getting back to the room was nice. Especially when they laid on the bed. Gaara's muscles were screaming at him.

"I am exhausted." Lee said and Gaara nodded. "Would you like to come cuddle with me." Gaara looked at Lee and sighed that he had to move but did it anyway. It was one of the other times Lee felt like an alpha so Gaara never turned him down for a cuddle session. Plus, Gaara loved the warmth of being held by Lee. There was nothing better.

Lee kissed Gaara's cheek. Then his forehead. Then his jaw. Then his ear. Then his neck. Gaara's eyes opened and he looked at Lee from the corner of his eye.

"What are you doing?"

"You smell very nice." Lee purred and licked up Gaara's neck. "So nice."

"Lee..." Gaara groaned and shivered. "We're both tired."

"But after tomorrow I will not see you for almost a week and a half." Lee said and licked over the mark where he bit Gaara for their bond was. "But if you do not mind that..." Gaara turned his body so he was facing Lee more.

"You're a pain in the ass, Lee." Lee smiled cutely at him. "Not a compliment."

"No, Gaara. You are the pain in the ass, I believe." Gaara frowned at him.

"Did you just make a sexual joke?" Lee nodded with a grin.

"Kankuro was-"

"No. Don't learn anything from Kankuro." Lee just took it in stride and started nibbling on Gaara's collar bone. He knew all the ways to get Gaara to give in. He loved playing with his omega. He was so easy to rile up even though he insisted he wasn't. Lee knew exactly how to get what he wanted at this point. He wondered if Gaara knew Lee had him figured out. 

"Lee, just take your clothes off." Lee grinned against Gaara's skin.

***

"You two sure slept a while." Kankuro said and Gaara glared at him. "Sheesh, was it not enough?" He asked but Lee seemed to be chipper enough this morning. Gaara was upset he wouldn't be able to spend the entire day with Lee. They broke apart at around half of the day. 

After Gaara said goodbye to the kage of that village and thanked him for the lessons he instilled, they began their journey back to their home for the first time in a while.

Gaara was happy enough walking with Lee's hand in his own. It was such a comforting way to walk next to someone. Him and Lee hadn't always done it. It started happening a few months ago. It was rare that they walked somewhere else without holding hands now. 

Temari, Kankuro and Baki walked behind them and the guards were walking in front of them. Temari couldn't believe how much her brother grew, especially with his partner. Meeting Lee the first time, she wasn't sure how much she believed someone like him could be Gaara's soul mate. They seemed to really get past that rough patch in the beginning. The 8 months had been one big learning journey and she was happy to have seen her brother learn so much with and about Lee.

"Are you excited to go home?" Temari asked Kankuro and he nodded.

"Yeah, it was fun but home sounds nice. This has been the longest mission ever. And really boring. No one let me do anything." Temari rolled her eyes and shoved her brother affectionately. "Thanks, sis."

"Shut up Kankuro."

Eventually they made it to their fork in the road and Gaara and Lee had to part. Gaara hugged his alpha and smiled at him. It was a rare sight to see Gaara smile. Lee loved it all the same.

"I'll see you in a week and a half. I love you." Lee kissed Gaara's forehead.

"Be safe, Lee." Gaara said softly and Lee gave him a thumbs up and ran off into the direction of his old home, wanting to be back with Gaara already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **PLEASE** send in prompts. Give me something to write or this thing will never see the light of day again. Help me. I'm dying here.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out what Naruto is.  
> Akatsuki.   
> Babies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. This story gives me writers block since I started out following the canon storyline and now I don't know how to follow. I decided that I didn't have to really follow the plot anymore so there's that. I hope you enjoy the chapter!
> 
>  **kailthia** : I'm glad you were happy to see another chapter. I'm not abandoning this story! I just don't know where to go! I'm trying really hard! Thank you for sticking with it though! You're a champ  
>  **The_BookDragon** : Not that I can think of right now. You will find out what Naruto is this chapter! I love them too.  
>  **MirSama** : Thank you for your prompts, you've blossomed the story a bit more! So thank you! <3  
>  **Bumblebees_Girl** : You got it. I took my own spin on it, hope you don't mind :)  
>  **Isis+Cox** : I would love to see Metal too! Maybe we'll get more from this chapter!  
>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : Haha you tend to do that with my stories #sorrynotsorry (BTW you still never gave me any ideas for your oneshot. I'm totally out of ideas tbh)  
>  **Bojik_Ivanov** :   
> ¡Gracias! No sé cuál debería ser el regalo del alma gemela. Trataré de pensar en algo. ¡La aldea descubre este capítulo!

Chapter Sixteen:

Lee entered the village with a happy smile. Everything was the same. The smells, the same stores. Everything. He scanned around looking at the people, so happy to see them. He wondered who the first person he would see would be. 

He headed out to find his sensei. He wondered how his team was fairing.

"Hey! Bushy Brow!" Lee paused and turned his head. Odd. Naruto didn't smell like anything, he didn't even realize he was there. Lee quickly jogged over to his blonde friend and greeted him.

"Naruto! Hello! How have things been here?" Naruto smiled sheepishly.

"Not too sure, I was actually just getting back. I haven't been here in a while. I was out training. How has mated life been?" Lee smiled widely.

"Fantastic! I have had such a wonderful 8 months with my mate! He is really amazing! He is getting stronger and stronger every day!" 

"Wow, man that's awesome! I'm... I'm real glad for you." Naruto's grin faded slightly.

"Naruto what's wrong?" Naruto shook his head and smiled again.

"Oh, nothing, man. I'm cool, believe it." Lee walked over to him and noticed the slight step back. Lee's eyes narrowed.

"Naruto...?"Naruto didn't look him in the eyes either. "Naruto? Are you...?" Lee let the question hang and Naruto sighed.

"Yup." 

"Oh. Wow. What happened?"

"Nothing. Jiraiya was able to get me out of the village before anyone found out and got me on blockers. No one knows yet." Lee frowned.

"Naruto, you are very strong, much like my own mate. Do not feel badly about it. And Gaara is going to be the Kazekage! Do not think you cannot be great because of this." Lee said softly. Naruto tilted his head to the side.

"You know, Lee. You're unusual."

"Why would you say that?" Lee asked, curiously.

"Well, here I am saying what I am and you... you're an alpha. You guys are weird with us but you aren't. You don't act like an alpha." 

"I know. Gaara is the real alpha in the relationship." Lee laughed. "I do not find it unusual. I think it is awesome that we are able to have this kind of relationship despite our status. Not only is he an omega but he is the leader of a village. He is their protector! That is amazing! He has accomplished more than I have and I am an alpha. You do not need to be an alpha to do amazing things, I think."

"You're right, Lee. Thanks." Lee gave a thumbs up. 

"That is what friends are for!" He grinned.

***

Getting back to Suna was something Gaara could've waited to do. It was nice to be on his home turf, but a part of him wished he was able to go back to Konoha with Lee. It would've been nicer, that's for sure. 

Kankuro and Temari were thankful to be back. That much was obvious. Kankuro wrote a list of places he wanted to eat at before he did anything else. It sounded good enough. Gaara was starving, walking for days tended to do that. Temari was leading the group and Kankuro whined how slowly Gaara walked. Gaara glared. Lee never complained how slow he was. As long he sped up with fighting. Problem with not moving much during fighting is that Gaara didn't really have much of a sense of urgency when it came to moving.

They were greeted with a rather large fanfare. It was surprising if anything. 

"Kazekage-sama!" He was hailed and Gaara frowned.

"I am not the Kazekage yet." He said slowly.

"You will be after the ceremony. Please, come, you must get ready." Gaara looked back at Temari and Kankuro and they shrugged. He wondered why it was such a rush to get him as the Kazekage. He supposed his village was left without one for long enough.

While he walked through the village, he looked at all the civilians and he was surprised to not be met with hatred or disdain. The eyes of the people seemed inviting. They smiled at him, he never thought he would see that. For once, Gaara was looking forward to a change.

***

"Lee! My star pupil! What are you doing here? I thought you would be in Suna with your mate!" Guy said and Lee nodded.

"Yes I was supposed to go but he told me to visit my own village first." Guy frowned.

"Why? I heard when he gets back to the village it's his ceremony for becoming Kazekage. I would've thought he'd want you there for that." Lee's shoulders sagged.

"We did not know that. This is so upsetting! I wanted to be there for that! I should run there-"

"Lee. No. By the time you get there it will be over. I am sure he won't hold this against you." It still upset Lee to think that he wouldn't be there by his mate during a very important ceremony. "Let us get caught up on everything in the village! It is wonderful to see you again! You have grown so much!" Lee smiled happily at that.

"Yes! I have improved with my fighting techniques as well! And Gaara and I have practiced fighting together too. There are some very powerful attacks we can do together now."

"You've been training and sparing with Gaara?" Guy looked impressed. "Wow, Lee."

"Yes! I am the only one who can spar with Gaara. He wanted to train to make sure he could fight without his sand and I am the only one the sand will not attack. It has been quite fun! Gaara is a lot faster as well! We have done a lot of hand-to-hand combat. He also does this cool thing where he will make weapons with his sand! It is great! Except when he makes a sword... That hurt." Lee frowned at the memory.

"Seems like you two have been quite busy." Lee nodded.

"Yes. We have been to so many villages to speak with them. Gaara talked to almost all of the Kages and that is when we got word to go back. It was a very humbling experience, I am thankful." Guy was glad for it. "So has anything changed at all since I have been here last?" Lee asked with a tilt of his head.

"So many things happen every day, it would be impossible to list them all." Guy said with a laugh. "We'll catch up while we eat. Come on."

***

"Give me a reason." Kisame said slowly. "One that doesn't include your brother."

"Sasuke isn't in the village, Kisame." Itachi stated calmly. "This has nothing to do with Sasuke. It has to do with the Jinchuriki. The one from Suna. His alpha is here."

"The one tailed beast?" Kisame asked with surprise. "I had no idea he was mated. Isn't he like 5?"

"He's Sasuke's age so he's about 15." Itachi said, brushing off the joke. "They mated about 8 months ago."

"Hm. So you want to use the alpha?"

"That is correct." Itachi put his straw hat on. "So let's go."

***

Gaara was very uncomfortable with the entire ceremony. He didn't feel like it was necessary to do all of this just to get him sworn into the office. Some of the crowd was clearly unhappy with the choice, and there were a select few that were a bit eager to have an omega nearby. 

In Suna, omega were incredibly rare, especially in males. Gaara knew he would have to deal with difficulty eventually. He just wished Lee were here to help him with everything.

The ceremony passed with little excitement and just like that, Gaara was Kazekage. He wondered when it would fully sink in that everyone that stood on the roads looking up at him were people who trusted him to protect them. Luckily for them, Shukaku's biggest power was the world's greatest defense.

Gaara walked through the halls with Temari and Kankuro looking at all of the rooms. Gaara was just remind himself of all the paths in the building. Since his father was Kazekage, he'd been here before, but not often. His father didn't trust him to be there. He thought it was fitting that he would become Kazekage after his father's untimely death. 

There was a slight clawing worry in the pit of Gaara's stomach that he wouldn't be good enough to protect his village. It was disconcerting but interestingly enough, the omega that was in the back of his mind told him he would do anything to protect these people. He knew that was the maternal side of his body chemistry. He idly wondered if Lee had the same voice or not.

"How do you feel, Kazekage-sama?" Temari asked, trying the title out with a smile. Gaara stopped mid-stride and frowned.

"I don't much care for the honorifics." He admitted and looked at the ground. He wondered why. It felt uncomfortable to be spoken to as a higher up such as a "sama". 

"Do you think that's the omega?" Kankuro asked and Gaara glanced over at him curiously. He didn't answer Kankuro's question, but now he had questions of his own. He turned back and continued walking through the halls. He wanted to leave, he had enough of this place.

Temari led the way back to their home. They wouldn't have to move considering they already lived in the Kazekage's quarters because of their father. Temari only wondered if Gaara would kick them out to start a family with Lee. 

Suddenly, just thinking of her little brother swollen with pregnancy made her stifle a giggle. Kankuro looked over at her curiously and Temari shook her head and Kankuro frowned. No way was she going to admit how cute she thought it was for Gaara to be pregnant.

"So Gaara, are you going to move into the big room? You have you and Lee to sleep now." Temari said and Gaara pursed his lips slightly at that.

"I don't sleep much. I doubt I'd need a bigger sleeping space." Gaara said calmly.

"Beds aren't only for sleeping." Kankuro said with a wicked grin, Temari elbowed him hard in the stomach and he keeled over. "Ow! That was uncalled for!" Kankuro complained and Gaara stared at Kankuro a bit longer and then nodded.

"You're right. I still prefer the room I have now though." Gaara walked to the couch and sat down with a sigh. He wished this week was over already. He wanted Lee back. He was already starting to feel the negative effects of not having his mate around which was frustrating.

The only saving grace was the fact that the bond wasn't painful anymore since it was consummated and not rejected. It was more of just missing Lee with his mind, heart and body chemistry.

Gaara wanted to go to Konoha. He wished he would be able to just up and leave the village. More things to think about as Kazekage. Can't leave the village for stupid reasons when he was supposed to be protecting said village.

***

"Hey Lee!" Lee glanced up and saw Sakura and smiled. "How have you been?"

"I have been great, thank you Sakura. How have you been?"

"I've been alright. I finally found out that I was a beta though, so that was cool." Lee envied her for that. Betas didn't have to worry about anything, they were just a neutral party. There weren't people who hated betas. 

"That is wonderful for you!" Sakura nodded.

"Yeah... I was just wondering how you were doing with your mate. Is everything good? I don't see him with you." She noted and Lee smiled.

"To be honest, everything is fantastic. We went on an 8 month mission just going to different villages to help hone his skills to become the Kazekage, I found out he was sworn in two days ago. We did not know he was going to be sworn in so quickly or else I would not have parted with him so I would be able to go to the ceremony. He is the one who told me to visit my village, honestly I miss him so I do not think I will be here much longer."

"Aw, Lee. I'm happy for you. It's so amazing that as an omega he became the Kazekage! He must be really powerful!" Lee blinked at the statement. He knew his omega was strong but he hadn't really put it in that perspective. Gaara at 15 years old was looked at as the strongest in the village to protect Suna against enemies and threats. That was badass!

"Yes! He really is! And he is getting stronger!" Lee just got so excited talking about his mate. He could talk about him for days.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, did you hear about Sasuke?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Sasuke? No. What happened?"

"Apparently he's here. I haven't seen him myself but he's back in the village." Lee frowned, that wasn't a good sign. He looked up at the sky in thought. What was going on?

***

While Lee was walking fast paced through the streets, he couldn't help but overhear a peculiar conversation.

"Yeah, man, everyone knows that about omega."

"There's no way they become stronger when they're pregnant. How would anyone even find that out? They aren't able to fight."

"Well, it's been found out. Their defenses are almost impenetrable when expecting pups. It's like a complete wall of security. Why do you think alphas with pregnant omegas go on missions still? They don't need to worry!" 

Lee pondered about the conversation for a while as he started to walk slower. His mind was racing with the new information. How peculiar for something like creating new life to do things like that. Impenetrable defenses? That combined with Gaara's already completely strong defense? Nothing could hurt Gaara if he were pregnant...

Lee shook his head. He was only 16, he shouldn't be thinking about pups so early. What was he to do? Continuously get Gaara pregnant until there was no danger around anymore? Plus, Gaara was on blockers and would likely not even want to get off of them. It didn't take long after being around Lee for Gaara to flare in heat.

With a groan, Lee realized he was thinking about his mate in heat and an uncomfortable feeling began to stir in his abdomen but he willed his potential erection away. There was no use for it right now. He wished he were in Suna with Gaara.

"So, you're the Jinchuriki's alpha." Lee's head snapped up and he saw two men in black robes with straw hats.

"Who are you?" Lee asked, bracing himself in an offence position.

"The names Kisame, this is Itachi. We're kinda lookin' for your boy. Sorry." He said with a grin full of sharp teeth.

"Well, you can be assured that I will not allow you to get to him." Lee said, narrowing his eyes dangerously. 

"Aw, how cute, he thinks he stands a chance." Kisame said with a chuckle.

"There you are!" Lee turned his head and suddenly, Sasuke was standing beside him practically emanating a chakra aura. 

"I thought you said your brother wasn't here, Itachi." Kisame said with a frown.

"Honestly, I hadn't expected it. I thought he was still... out." Itachi gave Sasuke a once over.

"You're going to pay for what you did!" Sasuke bared his teeth and Itachi sighed softly at the act of aggression. 

"How fitting is it to know that you are an alpha." Itachi said calmly. "I don't know why I would've doubted it."

"What the hell are you even doing here?!" Sasuke growled out.

"Apparently they are looking for my mate." Lee supplied with a glare.

"We aren't after Gaara, per-se. We rather want the one tailed beast sealed in him." Lee scowled.

"That could kill him." He argued and Kisame shrugged his shoulders. 

"Not really a priority of ours to keep him alive." Lee went to attack but was stopped by Sasuke.

"No." Sasuke's eyes were deadly slits. "Don't waste your energy."

"What do you mean?" Lee asked and Naruto showed up running. 

"Hey!" He yelled and with all of his might, punched Itachi in the face. Itachi stumbled slightly but remained upright. Naruto's face dropped at the clear poise from Itachi. "What the hell?"

"Naruto, don't run into a fight that you have no idea about." Sasuke said with a hiss.

"Sasuke!? What are you doing here?!" Naruto's eyes were wide. "What the hell is going on!?"

"First off, I don't have to tell you whenever I'm in the village. I've been tracking my brother. I thought he would be here."

"Thought?" Lee and Naruto asked at the same time. Itachi chuckled.

"My, brother. You are quite perceptive."

"Hey! Whaddya mean!?"

"I mean that isn't my brother. The original anyway." Sasuke glowered. "Those are blood clones. Very well done, I'm not surprised." Lee's eyes widened.

"B-but if they are not here..." His blood ran cold.

"Don't worry your pretty eyebrows about it." Kisame said, smirking. "You can bet we'll be there to get the Jinchuriki one way or another."

"You leave him alone!" Lee's face turned red and his fangs were dangerously sharp.

"You alphas and your aggression." Kisame said with a sigh and shook his head. "I don't know how anybody deals with them."

"Neither do I." Itachi said with a frown. 

"Wait- does that mean you aren't an alpha?" Naruto was honestly shocked at the realization. The blood clone of Itachi stared at Naruto curiously.

"Is that so bad? I can tell not everyone here is an alpha." His eyes bore into Naruto's and Naruto's face started to burn. "We'll be around. But until then..." The two Akatsuki members dispersed leaving Lee, Naruto and Sasuke standing side by side, unknowing what to say.

"What did he mean by that, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, looking over at Naruto with a smirk. "Are you an omega? You can't be a beta, you transitioned." 

"S-shut up Sasuke!" Naruto's face burned with shame. "I'm still gonna be Hokage, believe it!" Lee gave a pat on Naruto's shoulder supportively. 

"I believe you can become the Hokage, Naruto." He said with a small smile.

"I'm just amazed I couldn't smell you, is all. You must be on blockers." Sasuke was enjoying this way too much. 

"I said shut up!" Naruto growled. "You don't get to come make fun of me after everything I did to get you back! You're such an asshole, Sasuke!" Naruto pulled his arm back to punch and with all his might attempted to punch Sasuke in the face. Sasuke dodged it easy enough but Naruto cut his knuckles on the tree behind him and growled. Sasuke smirked and went to say something and his nose twitched.

The... smell of his blood.

Sasuke felt a deep pulse in his body. No. That is impossible.

Sasuke fled faster than he thought possible and Naruto stared in confusion.

"What a dick." Naruto growled and Lee sighed.

"I am sorry, Naruto. I wish you luck with Sasuke. I really must go to the sand village. I believe my mate is in danger." Naruto nodded slowly.

"Visit again, Lee." Naruto said kind of sadly and Lee nodded.

"Of course, Naruto. I will be back." He promised and ran off to say his goodbyes. He couldn't waste any more time. Gaara needed him. 

***

.Lee got there in two days. He knew he promised Gaara he would take two and a half, but even two days seemed to be too long. Especially when he knew now the Akatsuki wanted their claws in his mate. Lee couldn't let that happen.

The entire run to Suna, that conversation played over and over again. 

A pregnant omega had impenetrable defenses. Gaara needed that now more than ever. Was it practical to have a kid? Lee knew he wanted one. Yeah, being 16 with a child would be difficult, but having a child at any age was difficult. Gaara had a powerful position with wealthy income from a wealthy family. If omega were stronger when they were pregnant, it would help him protect the village too. Not that Lee would want him to protect the village while pregnant.

This was such a hard thing to figure out! He hoped perhaps Gaara would have more input on it. 

Lee really hated the excited feeling he got though thinking about finally knotting his mate. He closed his eyes and evened his breathing. He didn't need everyone to know he was aroused upon his arrival to the village.

***

"Do you think it worked?" Kisame asked Itachi as they sat by the water.

"I don't doubt it for a second." Itachi said easily.

"Putting the idea in the alpha's head to knock up his mate was pretty impressive. But none of that was a lie, they really do get stronger. What was the purpose of making him stronger?"

"Yes, but Gaara is a Jinchuriki. He will get stronger his entire pregnancy, sure. But upon childbirth the seal keeping Shukaku inside him will be virtually useless. Shukaku could break free and we can take him from there with minimal effort. We have two years for the plan to possess all of the tailed beasts. If we could make this go without a fight, I'm all for it."

"You're such a pacifist." Kisame said with a pout. "I wanted to hurt something."

"There's nothing to hurt right now, Kisame. Be patient." Itachi chided and Kisame sighed.

"Alright, fine."

***

Lee was running through the village probably as wildly as he could. He needed to find Gaara to see if he was okay! 

The villagers were looking at him strangely since he was in a green spandex jumpsuit. That really wasn't a good color to wear to blend in in the desert. Lee didn't mind too much at their stares. 

Finally, he saw Gaara! Lee's face lit up. His mate was okay! He was standing in the middle of the road with several bodyguards talking to someone, either important enough to have the Kazekage go to him to talk or unimportant enough that they could talk freely outside.

The bodyguards didn't have a chance at protecting Gaara from Lee. They barely even noticed him for the longest time. Lee upped his speed feeling his heart flutter looking at his mate in his Kazekage robes. He looked so handsome.

"Gaara!" Lee said excitedly. All the surrounding villagers had time to see, was a crazy looking man in spandex running towards their Kazekage. Their very stoic and calm, kind of scary Kazekage. They expected some sort of show of Gaara's sand flaring up and tossing the enemy to the side. What they got was Gaara looking up to see Lee- and then suddenly their Kazekage was picked up and twirled in circles. Gaara's bodyguards just kind of looked awkwardly and slightly amazed at the speed of Lee. This is why Gaara didn't care for the new bodyguards. No one knew Lee save the few that went on the mission with them before.

Now they had quite the crowd of people staring in amazement watching a strange man spin their Kazekage in such fast circles his hat went flying off. 

Lee put Gaara down on the ground and Gaara stumbled slightly from being so dizzy.

"Hello Lee." That caused quite the surprise throughout the onlookers. Their Kazekage willingly let someone do that? 

"Hello Gaara! It has been a while! How are you doing!?" Gaara almost forgot how loud Lee was all the time.

"I thought you wouldn't be here for another few days." Gaara said, crossing his arms.

"I-I... I missed you." Lee put on his best grin and Gaara frowned at him. "Honestly I did. There is more I must discuss with you, but privately." Gaara noted the seriousness in Lee's voice and nodded. He held out one hand and his sand brought his hat back into his grasp. Gaara decided it would be best to hold his hat so he could see Lee better. He held out his other hand and Lee took it gladly and they both walked towards the Kazekage's office building. 

As if that display didn't shock the villagers enough, Lee stopped mid stride and loudly proclaimed how cute Gaara looked in his robes and then kissed him a bunch of times on the cheek.

What the hell was going on?

***

"So Lee what did you want to talk about?" Gaara asked once they were behind the privacy of the Kazekage's office doors. 

"Well, I had a run in with the Akatsuki-"

"What?" Gaara's eyes were slightly crazed at that and he stood up to examine his mate.

"I am fine, we did not fight. It was all so strange. Sasuke showed up and he wanted to fight Itachi, his brother but then he said not to fight, then Naruto showed up and punched Itachi in the face and Sasuke said it was a blood clone. They seemed to want to get a hold of you so I came here as fast as I could. Their mission is to get all of the Jinchuriki and take possession of all the tailed beasts!" Gaara frowned.

"That doesn't sound very good. Someone should probably get in touch with the other Jinchuriki to warn them. This is a serious matter if the Akatsuki are involved." Gaara paced a bit and then started writing something down on his desk. "What else did you have to say? I can smell your anticipation."

"Well..." Lee's heart sped up. This wasn't an easy topic to bring up at 15 and 16 years old. "I-I was thinking, they say that omega get extremely powerful during pregnancy and they have impenetrable defenses-"

"I already have one." Gaara cut in and Lee frowned.

"No. It does not always work. You know that. It is a very good defense, do not get me wrong but it could be better..."

"You want me to get pregnant?" Gaara said with a hint of exasperation. "I just became Kazekage. How will that help?"

"You will be even stronger! And then I will know you will be safe because no one can hurt you! I did some reading on it on the way over and they say that the chakra from the unborn fetus actually aids in healing too! So even if you did get hurt, it would not take long to heal!"

"Lee... I'm 15. You're 16." 

"So? We both have jobs. We are bonded to each other, it is not like we are going to leave one another." Gaara scowled at the thought. "We are in our prime of youth! We have energy to keep up with our child now!"

"Lee... I really don't know." Gaara looked down at his desk. A child? That was a lot.

"You do not have to answer it now, I will give you time. But, Gaara." Gaara looked up and Lee walked over to him and hugged him tightly. "Even if it had nothing to do with keeping you safe, I would still want children with you." Lee kissed Gaara's forehead and Gaara's nose twitched.

"Are you aroused thinking about me being pregnant?" Gaara deadpanned and Lee smiled sheepishly. 

"It is a nice thought." He said with a slight blush on his cheeks. His eyes grazed over Gaara's body and Lee bit his lip. "A very nice thought." This was one of the rare times Gaara saw Lee with that glazed over lust look that was so privy of an alpha. It wasn't often Lee actually proved himself to be an alpha. This was one of the few times.

"What is so appealing about it?" Gaara asked and Lee grabbed Gaara and sat him on his desk and kissed down his neck. Gaara shivered at the kisses and tilted his head to the side more, giving Lee more room.

"Everything." Lee captured Gaara's lips and sucked on his lower lip, biting it slightly and then pulled away. "I cannot even... stand how... how much I want that." Gaara blinked at the strong smell coming from Lee.

"Are you in a rut?" Gaara whispered and Lee whimpered and rubbed himself against Gaara shamelessly.

"Yes. I feel so warm. You feel so nice. I need you Gaara." Lee was biting Gaara's neck with a bit more heat involved and Gaara got goosebumps. "I want to fill you." Gaara looked slightly shocked at the admittance from Lee. Lee never topped before, it was always Gaara.

"I'm on blockers, Lee." Gaara reminded him and Lee growled. Gaara wished he could say the sound did nothing for him but that would be a lie. It shook him to the core. "You can't knot me here. This is my office." Gaara said and that garnered another growl from Lee. 

Lee picked Gaara up bride style and ran like a bat out of hell with Gaara giving him directions to the house. He knew Temari was out and Kankuro was on a mission. He could deal with just cuddling with his mate for a while.

Almost breaking down the front door, Lee got them home. Gaara insisted he be put down but Lee didn't listen to him and scented the house to find which room belonged to Gaara. Once he got the scent he dashed to the room and slammed the door behind them and threw Gaara to the bed and started to tug off Gaara's Kazekage robes.

Lee had rutted before but none of them were like what he was dealing with now. As he undressed Gaara all he wanted was to knot him. The thought of getting him pregnant triggered something with his alpha hormones that he didn't realize drove him as crazy as it did. 

Not before long they were both naked and Lee was grinding himself against Gaara. For someone who usually took charge, Gaara seemed to be surprisingly compliant. He responded to every one of his alpha's demands and wants with no hesitation. 

"I am going to knot you." Lee whispered in Gaara's ear and Gaara nodded slowly. He knew he was plenty lubricated to deal with this. He was wondering how it would feel, he'd been so curious before but they both decided even though Gaara could only get pregnant during his heat, they should just make sure to take extra precautions. 

"Okay." Lee rubbed himself in-between the lubricated cheeks near Gaara's hole, liking the feeling of the friction. "Lee, just do it." Gaara said almost in a beg. Lee was too far gone at this point to be polite or demand Gaara begged more for it. He just started to push inside Gaara, feeling so amazed at the warmth, tightness and wetness. "W-wow." Gaara tensed at the feeling. It was kind of painful, but at the same time not really. Lee pulled out and had Gaara lay on his side and spooned Gaara from behind and pushed himself back in. It felt nice to be cuddled while Lee thrust into him. The uncomfortable ache was still there though.

Luckily for him he didn't have to deal with it for too long. Lee didn't last long in his ruts. It was almost disappointing with how fast it was over but the swell of Lee's cock that came with the knotting made Gaara grunt out in pain. Lee whined when he came, his whole body almost convulsing with the strength of the orgasm. Once he had control of himself again, he reached around and grabbed Gaara's cock giving it nice long strokes. Gaara pushed back on Lee's knot and felt the burn of pleasure that could only come from Lee rubbing against his prostate. Once he figured that out, Gaara was finishing almost as quickly as Lee did.

The two laid there next to each other breathing heavily. Lee's arm was wrapped around Gaara's waist and Lee held him tightly from behind. There were a select few times that Gaara felt like an omega. This was one of them.

He found that he didn't mind much. Not at all, actually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a sorry I even gave you a mini smut scene. It would've been longer but I'm tired and I want to sleep but I also wanted to post this because I love all of you.
> 
>  **Questions to answer if you want to comment and you don't know what to say...**  
>  1) What are your thoughts on me going of the script from the original plot?  
> 2) Is there someone you wanted to see more of besides our two main boys?  
> 3) Do you think Gaara should relent and have the baby (Metal~!) or no, he should stick to his guns.  
> 4) If I'm going off the script, any person you'd like to see that typically wouldn't be a "good" guy?
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please comment with some prompts to help me write the future chapters! (Seriously I'm still so lost.)


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh... filler?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : I love the Akatsuki and I can't wait for them to be more in the story. I thought they were too young too. I'm going to throw a plot twist in there just because. Be on your toes(no it isn't this chapter)  
>  **The_BookDragon** : Haha you'll find out if you were right this chapter!  
>  **Haaku** : Well the more I write the more I try piecing things together the more I think of random things to keep the story going. There will be a baby in the story eventually, I think. But it won't be Gaara and Lee's (Or Naruto's) I think I have a cool plan. We'll find out if it comes to fruition. But I agree, it's too soon. Plus, they have two more years for Gaara to get pregnant if I did go that route. I'll find out something eventually. (can you just picture Gaara in the 4th shinobi war with one of those infant carriers with baby Metal strapped to his chest while he's fighting Madara. Yo I'm dying right now) Yes, I'm tired of Omegas being written the same so I decided we needed some characters that are obviously strong and independent to break the mold!! I have no clue what Orochimaru is. I'm glad you're enjoying!  
>  **MirSama** : Eventually we will have baby Metal! Oh man, Gaara is written as such a different character in this (More close to his actual personality) It would be so fun to write this Gaara with Ino!  
>  **SJ_Spencers** : If you're still reading, this has more of the content you came for!

Chapter Seventeen:

It was almost impossible for Gaara to get to his office the next day with Lee in a rut. He loved his alpha very much but possessive Lee wasn't Lee at all. Inside, the omega half of him was happy for it. Omegas liked the feeling of being possessed by an alpha. Gaara himself was getting more and more annoyed at it though.

"Lee. I need to go." Gaara insisted and Lee refused to let go of him.

"No. I need you here." He said, using his alpha voice. That didn't really work on Gaara. Even though he knew Lee wasn't himself being in a rut, Gaara was still extremely irritated at his alpha.

"I don't care where you need me. I need to be in the office. I'm Kazekage." Lee blinked, seemingly surprised at the clear anger in his omega's voice. It was always strange hearing anger from an omega, especially aimed towards their own alpha.

"Gaara..." Lee whined and Gaara's nose twitched at the scent of Lee's arousal. 

"Are you getting turned on because I'm not submitting to you?" Gaara asked and Lee whined again. "Lee." Gaara's tone was warning. "I have to go."

"Just one more time. Please." Lee begged and pulled Gaara close to him. "Please fuck me, Gaara." Gaara glanced at his mate. Lee's face was flushed, he was sweating. Despite his pleas of sex, he looked completely innocent. Gaara frowned at him.

"Okay. I have to go after, though." Lee nodded his head and pulled Gaara down for a kiss.

Gaara felt bad for the way he was treating his mate before. It wasn't Lee's fault he was in a rut. Gaara was the only one who could actually please him sexually. Unless Lee tried with someone else, in which case he would be dead very quickly. One thing that was more powerful than a possessive alpha was a jealous omega. 

They were already naked so there wasn't much of a show of taking clothes off. Gaara was grumpy and tired. He couldn't even remember all the times Lee knotted him since the night before. He was extremely sore. 

The reason this time was different was because Lee was willing to bottom which means his rut was almost over and he was slowly becoming himself again. Gaara wasn't sure how long ruts usually lasted nor was he sure how long heats usually lasted because him and Lee just had the most erratic cycles known to man.

***

"There you are, you asshole!" Naruto yelled and Sasuke scowled. He really didn't want to be found by Naruto but here they were.

"How did you find me?" Sasuke asked and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"I just followed the scent of betrayal and went from there." He said sarcastically. "Do you plan on telling me why you're avoiding me? I've been looking for you for MONTHS, Sasuke." Naruto's eyes were full of tears. "And now I have all these stupid emotions and I don't even know how to yell at you properly!"

"Then leave me alone!" Sasuke growled but Naruto stood his ground.

"Just because you're an alpha does not mean I'm going to listen to you, Sasuke. I have my own free will. You aren't the king of the world because you have a knot on your dick!" Sasuke scowled, his inner alpha was going crazy. He wanted to strangle Naruto and mount him at the same time and just the thought of mounting Naruto was disgusting to him. It was Naruto! Sasuke never thought he'd be in this mess.

While he was distracted in his thoughts, Naruto threw a kunai at him. Sasuke easily deflected it but now was paying close attention to the seething omega in front of him. Even the blockers couldn't contain the raw scent of an angry omega. A hurt omega. Naruto was hurt. Naruto was upset. 

At him.

Sasuke's anger dissipated and his shoulders sagged.

"Please, Naruto. Just leave me alone." Sasuke said in a resigned voice. He was clutching the fabric of his pants to try to ground him to his spot. He wanted to be distracted enough that the thought of running over to Naruto and biting his neck wouldn't be so alluring. 

But True Mates were rare. They were soulmates. Sasuke could feel it. He could smell it. Why couldn't Naruto? Was it a one way thing? Was Naruto just that stupid?

"No, Sasuke, I won't leave until you talk to me. I refuse." Naruto planted his feet firmly on the ground. "And if that means I have to fight you for you to stay here, then so be it." Naruto got into a fighting stance.

"I'm not going to fight you, Naruto." Sasuke said with a sigh.

"Why?! You won't fight me because I'm an omega?!" Naruto growled and Sasuke looked up at him with a glare and a scowl.

"No! I won't fight you because you're MY omega!" He snapped and Naruto paused.

"Wait... What?" Naruto asked slowly, eyes widened with shock and disbelief. 

"We're soulmates." Sasuke said with a scoff. "Figures I'd be paired with a loser like you."

"Hey, wait a minute-! How can you tell?! I don't get anything from you!" Naruto demanded and Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe it's the blockers you're on. I don't know. I could only tell when you cut your hand and I smelled your blood." Naruto took out a kunai and handed it to Sasuke. "What the hell is this?"

"A kunai, Sasuke. Get with it." Naruto said with an eye-roll. "Cut your finger or hand or face, I don't give a shit."

"Why the fuck would I do that?" Sasuke asked and Naruto glared at him.

"So I can see if you're telling the truth!" 

"Why the fuck would I lie about that??" Sasuke asked exasperatedly. "I can't promise, it does me no favors."

"Then cut your hand!"

"I don't want to!"

"I don't give a shit! I wasn't asking!"

"You're a real bitch, do you know that?"

"Well then I guess we'll get along great! Birds of a feather, right?" Sasuke scowled and snatched the kunai and ran it along his thumb and held it out to Naruto. "I... I don't smell anything." Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand and cut his palm and pressed his bloodied finger to Naruto's palm.

The electricity that went through the both of them was astounding. Naruto actually lost his footing and fell to the ground, eyes wide. Being so close to Sasuke now was too much. There was just so much feeling his body couldn't handle it.

"You alright there, loser?" Sasuke asked, trying to play it cool but Naruto could tell he was bothered. 

"Sasuke... What the hell does this mean?" Naruto asked in-between heavy breaths.

"I don't know." Sasuke said with a clenched jaw.

"Why did you activate the bond??" Naruto asked, wiping the blood on his pants.

"What do you mean? You asked me to."

"No. I said I didn't smell anything. Which is true, I still don't. Why would you activate the bond if you hate the idea of me so much?" Naruto asked with a frown. He was angry, he just didn't know how to express it right now. If Sasuke never had their blood touch, the bond wouldn't be activated and he wouldn't feel all this dark emotion from Sasuke.

"It was already activated once I smelled you. I was just making sure you felt it too." Sasuke said, looking unhappy.

"Why the hell did you do that though?"

"Because if my body is going to go crazy when it sees you, I figured I'd put you through the same hell." Sasuke said and Naruto scowled up at him.

"You're a dick." Naruto turned around and stormed off, feeling the ache in the bond already. Why the fuck did it have to be Sasuke of all people?

***

Lee woke up a few hours later feeling better than he had in a while. Plus, his rut was over so that was always nice. His face burned with embarrassment just thinking about all the things he did and said while he was going through it and hoped Gaara wouldn't hate him. 

For the next hour he cleaned the room and opened the windows to air out the terrible smell of an alpha in a rut and he scrubbed every surface possible to get the stains out. He was growing more and more embarrassed as he cleaned the room. He wondered how Gaara felt about the abuse he faced since Lee got back from Konoha. He felt terrible.

Lee was cleaning their sheets when Temari walked into the house. She saw Lee and smirked and his whole body turned red.

"You feeling better there?" She asked and he nodded meekly. "Good. Gaara may want to see you for lunch if you haven't eaten yet." Lee blinked, he didn't even realize he hadn't eaten in two days. Whoops. 

"Thank you very much, Temari." He bowed his head and she stared at him curiously. That was a strangely omega thing to do. She had to remind herself that Lee was different. He'd bowed his head before in thanks but she didn't think he knew alphas really didn't do that for something as simple as what he was thanking her for.

"Yeah, no problem." She said and her nose twitched. "You cleaned?" She smirked and he nodded his head and she thought it was sweet how embarrassed he was. "That's usually the omega's job, isn't it?"

"I think my omega has a lot more to deal with than cleaning our bedroom." Lee said awkwardly and Temari giggled at him.

"I suppose you're right. I'll see you later, Lee." She walked to her bedroom and Lee quickly got everything together so he could see his mate for lunch.

Lee got dressed in his normal spandex and was thankful that the smell in the room hadn't seeped into any of his clothes. Finally, he smelled like a normal person after a very vigorous scrub down in the shower. He was pretty sure he removed the first layer of his skin he scrubbed it so hard. He hated the alpha smell. 

He began walking down the dirt path through the village, noticing the strange looks he would get from time to time. He wasn't sure if it was because his very public display of affection to their Kazekage or if it was because he was in green of all colors.

He walked by a shop that caught his attention. Succulents. He wasn't sure why, but he wanted to get something to liven up Gaara's office. Lee was certain Gaara liked the succulents since he spent a lot of time admiring them from around the village.

Lee stepped inside the shop and looked around, marveling at the beauty of each of the plants.

"Hello! Long way from home?" He turned his head to be met with the shop keeper. He smiled.

"Ah, no. I live here now." He admitted and she looked at him curiously, noticing the Leaf Village headband on his waist. "As order of the Hokage, I'm permanently stationed in this village." He admitted and she nodded.

"Well, is there something I can help you with?" She asked and Lee smiled sheepishly.

"I would like something for my mate. His office, particularly." The shopkeeper smiled at him.

"What a lovely surprise you'll bring. What kind of plants does he like?" Lee shrugged his shoulders.

"He loves all of them, really. He is very good with plants." Lee said, smiling. He turned his head and saw the most beautiful vibrant red color. "What's this one?"

"It's called Flaming Katy. This plant needs about 10 hours of sunlight a day and you need to keep it in temperatures from 60-80 degrees." Lee smiled and picked it up.

"It reminds me of his hair." He admitted and admired the plant. "I would like this one, if you do not mind."

"Of course, let's get it all prettied up for him." The shopkeeper insisted and Lee smiled at the thought. He didn't think Gaara would particularly care if the plant was wrapped nicely or not. He would love it because it was a plant. "Would you like to add a small card to it?" She asked and held up the card. Lee nodded. She handed him a pen and he was suddenly sucked dry of any type of warm words to write on the small card. "Writers block?"

"A bit, yeah." Lee laughed nervously and tapped the pen against his chin. "Short and sweet, I suppose..." He mumbled and wrote.

Gaara,  
This plant reminded me of you. I hope when you see it, you're reminded of me.  
Love,  
Rock Lee

"There." He handed her the card and she grabbed a thin stick to prop the card in the soil and while she was placing it in the pot her eyes scanned the name and she paused.

"You... Gaara? The Kazekage?" Lee nodded slowly. "Your mate is the Kazekage?" She asked again and Lee looked confused and nodded. "Wow." She was amazed. Her smile widened. "He likes plants, you say?"

"Oh yes!" Lee smiled happily. "They are his favorite things. He has a lot of them at home. He takes care of them nicely. Sometimes he will talk to them, he says it helps them grow." Lee said and paused, then blushed. "Oh... Please don't tell him I told you that."

"No it's okay! He's right." Lee blinked. "Carbon monoxide helps plants. It isn't talking to them exactly that helps but it's a lot more fun than breathing on them." She laughed. "And plants thrive in positive conditions. He must really care for plants."

"Yes, he does." Lee grabbed his plant. "Thank you so much!"

"It was my pleasure." She said and he paid for the succulent. "Give my regards to our Kazekage."

"I will! I am sure he will be thankful for your help!" Lee said with a grin and he left the shop. The shopkeeper's smile fell off her face and she just shook her head amazed. 

The thought of their dark, brooding, Kazekage, known to be the Jinchuriki for a tailed beast, known for his crazy temper... to have a mate like Lee? That was just crazy to her. She shook her head and laughed. The world is strange.

***

Gaara sat at his desk and scanned through different mission summaries with a sigh.

"What's wrong, bro?" Kankuro asked and Gaara glanced over at him.

"Just tired." He admitted quietly. He was never tired. It was strange. His body was sore and exhausted. He hoped Lee was finally better. He couldn't keep up with Lee. Gaara barely slept, Lee had way more energy than he did.

"Is it from last night?" Kankuro asked with a smug grin and Gaara glared at him. "What? I have ears. And a nose. And both of them are scarred." Kankuro wrinkled his nose with distaste.

"Well-" Gaara stopped and sniffed the air. "Lee is here."

"Oh boy." Kankuro chuckled. "Should I leave the room?" Suddenly the door was burst opened and Gaara saw the look of horror on the shinobi's faces who were guarding said door while Lee stood proudly in the office.

"Lee, can you not startle the guards, please?" Gaara scolded half heartedly.

"Kazekage, sir, we apologize. We know you did not want to be disturbed-"

"This is my mate. He can come in as he pleases." Gaara said calmly without looking at them. He only had eyes for Lee. 

"Ah-yes. Sorry, Kazekage-sama." Gaara winced at the sama and they closed the door. He really hated that word.

"Gaara!" Lee was smiling widely. In one hand was a very gaudily wrapped succulent and in the other was a bag with what smelled like curry. "I got some gizzard curry for you! And this!" Lee held the plant out and Gaara slowly took it into his hands and looked at it. He saw the card and read it with a small smile.

"Thank you, Lee. I appreciate it." He placed the plant at his desk and was suddenly struck with the want to have a photo of Lee on his desk. He had to figure out a way to get that done. It would be nice to see Lee when he wasn't around. "Oh, you got this from the Hokage." He handed the letter to Lee and Lee sat down to open it. Gaara went back to scanning over the mission statements and Kankuro was confused with the lack of affection between the two. That just seemed like a business transaction. He wondered if something was wrong. Not that the two were prone to public displays of affection. Well, Lee could but Gaara wasn't really one for it.

"She has a mission for me." Lee announced and Gaara glanced up with a frown. 

One of the stipulations of having Lee in Suna was that he would still be given missions from her if she needed him. She said he was too much of an asset of the Leaf Village to just hand him over completely. Gaara could understand that, but he didn't like the fact that he had no say in some of the missions the Hokage sent him on. 

Gaara held out his hand to get the letter, it was a rude gesture, at least Kankuro thought so, Lee didn't have any qualms about it and handed the paper over easily. Gaara's eyes scanned the letter and his frown deepened.

"This is a B rank mission." He stated. "In the Hidden Rain Village."

"She says I should depart on tomorrows date to get there in time to go." Gaara looked up at Lee and Kankuro could see the disappointment on his brother's face. How unfortunate. Kankuro decided to give the two a moment alone and he got up and left.

"You just got here." Gaara said softly and Lee nodded.

"I know. But I will be back in less than a week." He promised. Gaara still wasn't very happy about it. 

"Why do you have to walk all the way to Konohagakure if you have to walk back towards Sunagakure to get to Amegakure?" Gaara asked with some annoyance It was a waste of time, in his opinion.

"I am unsure." Lee said honestly. "But I am sure there is a good reason for it..." He trailed off.

"What are you thinking about?" Gaara asked and Lee sighed.

"I just would like to be here to protect you."

"Lee, there isn't anything to protect me from. Don't worry about it. I can handle myself." Gaara's eyes hardened and Lee nodded. He knew Gaara could defend himself, and well, at that.

"I would just like to help."

"I know, Lee." Gaara said quietly and suddenly the mission statements weren't important anymore and he shuffled everything and put it to the side. "Let's have lunch." Lee smiled.

***

Everyone knew who Gaara was. Even before he became Kazekage, they knew who he was because everyone was terrified of him. But honestly, the more they saw the man walk around the village quietly, the more they wondered why they were so afraid of him. Sure, he was downright scary sometimes but for the most part he just seemed like a really calm guy.

Not that anyone would test the theory.

One of the reasons they thought this was today Gaara walked through the village hand-in-hand with Lee. Gaara wore his Kage robes and Lee had a backpack full of supplies. There were guards behind them and Gaara walked Lee all the way to the gate to exit the village.

"Be careful." Gaara said with a hardened edge to it. His eyes weren't soft right now, he was very demanding. Lee smiled anyway.

"I promise you I will be back. Do not miss me too much." He teased and Gaara's expression didn't change. "Gaara, I promise I will not do anything to get myself hurt, okay?" Gaara gave him a curt nod and Lee sighed. "I'll see you soon."

"Hold on." Gaara turned his head and motioned for someone. "Kankuro is going with you." Lee blinked in surprise.

"W-what?" He looked at Kankuro and Kankuro just shrugged.

"What can I tell you? My brother is a bit of a control freak." He said and Gaara smirked slightly.

"You don't need-"

"Lee." Gaara's voice was sharp and it made Lee sigh.

"Gaara. You do not need to send out your own resources. I will be fine." Lee said and Gaara looked up at Lee with his beautiful colored eyes.

"Please." He said quietly and Lee practically turned to goo.

"Y-yes. Of course." He bowed his head and Gaara tilted his chin up.

"Don't bow to me, Lee." He said and Lee smiled and pulled Gaara in for a tight hug which Gaara only slightly responded to.

"I love you." Lee said and kissed Gaara's cheek.

"Yes." Gaara nodded. "I know." Lee grinned at him.

"I will see you later." He gave another chaste kiss to Gaara's lips. "I will make sure no harm comes to your brother." He joked and Gaara's eyes narrowed.

"Kankuro will ensure no harm comes to you." Kankuro rolled his eyes.

"Alrighty, Romeo. Let's go." Kankuro grabbed Lee's arm and Lee turned to wave at Gaara as they walked away.

None of the shinobi or villagers said anything while Gaara stood there as still as a stone watching their retreating forms until they couldn't be seen anymore.

***

"It had not even been a week since I have been here." Lee said, frowning as they walked to the gates of his old village.

"State your name!" He heard and glanced up. It was Genma.

"Hello, Genma! It is I, Rock Lee! And my traveling companion Kankuro from the Sand village!" He called and the gate opened. Lee bound inside with Kankuro trailing behind him. They started walking through the streets of the village and if there was one thing that Kankuro could admit it was that Konoha had significantly better food choices. And he was starving. Traveling with Gaara and Temari was simple enough. His brother had no sense of urgency so there wasn't much running. Lee? Lee sprinted most of the way there. Kankuro was exhausted. He didn't know how Lee and Gaara worked together with Gaara barely moving ever and Lee running marathons for no reason.

They were most of the way to the Hokage's office when they bumped into someone.

"Neji!" Lee cried with a smile. "How are you, my friend?"

"Lee? You weren't supposed to be here for another day." He said and Kankuro's expression turned deadly.

"You made me run here for no reason!?" He growled and Lee smiled sheepishly.

"This is Gaara's brother? What is he doing here?" Neji asked and looked over the man.

"Orders from the Kazekage. I am Lee's personal bodyguard." Kankuro said flatly and Neji smirked, Lee blushed.

"Look at that, you aren't an omega yet your mate still treats you as one." Lee glared at that statement. "I'm only teasing you. You should go to the Hokage's office to be debriefed."

"Are you on my team?" Neji nodded. "Who else?"

"We have Shikamaru and Ino." Lee nodded. Shikamaru was the only one of them to become a Chunin. Lee hoped he would be promoted soon. He wondered if Gaara could promote him or if it would have to be the Hokage. 

"Alright. Thank you." Lee nodded his head.

"See you bright and early." Neji left and Kankuro groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick question for y'all. 
> 
> Who do you ship with Itachi?


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Votes!  
> KisaIta: ||||  
> KakaIta:|  
> ShiIta: |  
> ItaDei: ||
> 
>  **Winner** : Kisame/Itachi (Thanks for your votes!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : I know :( My poor baby. I love him. Kankuro continues to be a pleasure to write lol  
>  **The_BookDragon** : Thank you for your vote!  
>  **Haaku** : Haha, I'm so glad you enjoyed last chapter! Naruto is fun to write. He's moody or funny or both at the same time so he's a blast. I'm totally going to draw that. It'll be fantastic.  
>  **MirSama** : They are nice characters!  
>  **Bumblebees_Girl** : Thank you for your vote!  
>  **Best_Kind_of_Insanity** : That is a cute pairing, I like it. Unfortunately, it was not the winner :( I would've liked to write it.  
>  **Desbelleschoses** : Muhuhuhahaha! <3 It's what I do :P you'll learn.

Chapter Eighteen:

Itachi and Kisame were sitting in a remote area of the Fire Country and Kisame couldn't stop glancing at Itachi.

"Are you alright?" Since earlier today, something seemed to be bothering him. Kisame was growing worried about his partner. It was strange to see him act this way.

"Yes. I'm fine." He grit out and Kisame frowned at the brashness of it. It was completely unlike Itachi. Being his partner for the past few years, Kisame had never seen him like this. He wanted to ask again, because clearly something was wrong, but Itachi had made it painfully clear that he wouldn't be answering the question.

Itachi sat with his back pressed against a tree, glaring down at the dirt in front of him. He didn't know what was wrong with his body but he felt so ill. His insides were burning. He wanted to vomit. He wondered if it was the disease he had finally coming to end him. He wasn't sure.

Suddenly everything was too much and he fell forwards, narrowly missing the fire, and passed out.

***

Lee was getting impatient. Sure, they were all making good time, but the quicker they got to their mission place, the quicker he could go back home to Gaara. And right now that is all he wanted to do.

Shikamaru was the mission's leader and it was funny to see Neji hand the reins over to him considering Neji had done his fair share of being a mission captain. Lee was never a captain on any missions so it was just strange. Ino really didn't care and Lee felt if Shikamaru wasn't there, she wouldn't be very happy with the team. 

Lee really didn't know much about Ino. He'd seen her before a few times but he never spoke to her. He thought she would talk a lot more than she did but she stayed relatively silent unless she was making fun of Shikamaru. 

Kankuro was slowly going insane. He was annoyed that his brother even made him go on one of these missions to make sure Lee would be okay. He had a team with 3 other people, of course he would be okay. Plus, seeing an alpha like Neji have to give a beta the spot for team captain was just painful to watch. Kankuro was an alpha himself but everyone thought he was a beta with how much he didn't give a shit about anything. And Lee was so twitchy it was irritating.

"You okay?" Ino asked finally once they stopped to make camp. Lee looked at her awkwardly. "I asked if you were okay."

"Oh! Yes. Sorry. I am fine." Lee nodded his head several times and helped them set up the camp all while biting his lip.

"He wants to get back home to the Mrs." Kankuro supplied and realization dawned on Ino.

"Oh! That's right! You're the one that mated with the Kazekage, right?"

"Yes." Lee blushed.

"How is he? Last time I saw him he didn't look... good." She wanted to say "stable" but decided against that.

"He is great!" Lee beamed and began to get the fire prepared. "He is doing a fantastic job as the Kazekage. He is very powerful."

"Can you stop riding my brother's dick for like 3 seconds?" Kankuro teased and Lee's face turned bright red. Ino tilted her head to the side at the blush. She could've sworn Lee was the alpha, was he not? She couldn't scent him, she was a beta so she didn't have the ability to.

"It wouldn't surprise me much if even as an alpha he still took the omega position." Neji said, smirking and Lee's face grew an even darker shade of red.

"Can we stop talking about this, please?" Ino gave a swift kick to Neji's leg.

"Be nice!" She chastised and he rolled his eyes. 

Shikamaru walked over after he set up his tent and sat down at the circle giving everyone a once over.

"Am I missing something?" He asked and everyone shook their head. He rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever. In any case, do we have any questions about the mission?"

"From what I hear, it's just a simple spy mission." Neji said calmly, looking at Shikamaru.

"Well, yeah but you can still have a question." Shikamaru said flatly. 

"Just ignore him." Ino said with an eye roll.

"Are you alright, Lee?" Kankuro asked quietly and Lee gave a stiff nod. He didn't want to be on this mission anymore. He just wanted his omega. He hoped Gaara was in a better position than he was.

***

"Gaara, you feeling alright?" Temari asked, walking into Gaara's office.

"Yes, I'm fine, Temari." He said calmly and continued writing. "Just have a lot of paperwork to do." He sifted through several piles. "We have about 7 missions to distribute. 4 D rank, 2 C rank and an A rank." Temari took the A rank mission in her hands with a thoughtful noise.

"A guarding mission. For an heiress of the hidden grass village? What is a hidden grass heiress doing here in Suna?" Gaara gave a shrug. "Who are you giving the mission to?"

"That's what I'm trying to do now. Delegate." He gestured his pile of ninja folders. "I have a lot to learn about the specialties in the ninja of this village. I am unsure who to send where. The D-rank are simple enough. I just give them to new genin teams. C-rank is a bit more difficult since I know virtually nothing about the ninja here." Gaara rubbed his temples.

"You've been... studying ninja files?" Temari asked when she got a good look at the papers on Gaara's desk. "How many files have you read?"

"Almost all of them. I just have to catch up on the new genin and I'll be done. I know all Jonin and chunin." Temari looked around the room.

"I didn't see any shinobi around. Who got you the files?" Gaara raised a brow.

"I got them myself. Why would I ask someone to get a file for me when it is literally the only thing I'm doing?" Temari sighed.

"Gaara, that's your omega speaking." She said and he scowled. "I'm not lying! You get really weird about bossing people around sometimes."

"In order to get most of these files, I would have needed a high-clearance shinobi. Just efficient. I have clearance on everything we have. Not everyone does. Oh damn it." Gaara rubbed his temples. "Come with me. I forgot the ANBU files." He stood up and she smirked at him and helped him collect all the files he read already to return to the file room.

Getting in was simple enough. Having the Kazekage and the advisor of the Kazekage did put a lot of the regular paper-pushing nins on edge but Gaara said nothing and put files back where they belonged. Then he wandered around curiously.

"Where are the ANBU files?" Gaara asked and the shinobi standing there blinked in surprise at Gaara's question directed towards him. Gaara inwardly rolled his eyes. He wasn't sure why they were so nervous around him all the time. Well, actually...

"Right this way, Kazekage-sama." Gaara gave Temari a look of annoyance and she smirked at him. He would grow to accept the sama title. He just had to.

The ninja led them to a more secure section and they walked down a flight of stairs into the archives. Gaara stared around in slight amazement. There were so many filing cabinets. He had a lot to read.

"Right here, sir." He opened a drawer and Gaara peeked inside and saw several thick files. At least at 80 pages each. He closed his eyes in a resigned frustration and thanked the shinobi for his time. Temari helped him gather the files and they trudged up the stairs, back to Gaara's office. 

Gaara opened the first file and winced. He forgot about the uniform.

"I'm going to change the ANBU uniform." He decided out loud with a frown. It took Temari less than 10 seconds to understand why. Yashamaru. She nodded.

"If you need help, let me know." She said gently and Gaara nodded and tried to not pay attention. He hated the ANBU uniform. It wasn't practical and just having a cloth covering your face did nothing. If Gaara wore an ANBU uniform, they would be able to tell it was him instantly with his eyes showing. They needed masks.

"Looks like I've figured out what I'm doing all week. Thank you, Temari." She nodded. "Was there anything else you needed?"

"No. I just came to check on you." She said and he sighed.

"I'm fine, Temari. I can handle being without Lee for a week." She smiled at him and nodded.

"Okay, Gaara. I'll take your word for it."

***

It was now 4 days without Gaara and Lee was still with his team, they hadn't even made it to the village yet and he was growing more and more frustrated. He wasn't sure why he was so angry but he was and Neji was just pushing it. Every chance he could get to tease Lee, he took. Ino would chastise him for it but it only did so much. Kankuro ignored everything, not really caring one way or the other, same with Shikamaru.

"We're almost to the village." Shikamaru said and pulled the map out of his chunin vest pocket. "Another half day, perhaps."

"Should we stop to rest before we get there?" Lee wanted to groan at the thought but did his best to remain neutral. 

"Yes, not quite yet, but soon we will." Lee bit the inside of his cheek.

"Relax, you'll be home to your alpha soon enough." Neji jabbed and Ino watched Lee's face change. It went from Lee's normal rounded eyes with absolutely no hostility in them, to dangerous slits and Lee had Neji shoved against a tree before she could even blink.

"Can you stop for three seconds?" He hissed, showing his fangs. "You are really pissing me off."

"Yeah, Neji. Lay off it." Ino said, crossing her arms. "It isn't cute anymore. Stop being jealous."

"Jealous?" Neji said incredulously and shoved Lee off of him. "That couldn't be further from the truth."

"Well whatever the hell you got going on with Lee needs to stop." Shikamaru said finally. "This is getting really troublesome and the last thing I need on this mission is one of you dying because you're too busy at each other's throats so cut your shit." Lee opened his mouth to argue that he didn't even do anything but decided it wasn't worth it. "Now, the reason you two are on this mission together is because you're teammates and you work well together. Also because we need your speed, Lee. We also need Neji's Byakugan. If this is going to be a problem, I will gladly send one of you home." Shikamaru's eyes flashed in annoyance. "Are we done?"

"Yes." Lee said with a look of shame.

"Neji?" Shikamaru looked at him with a look of impatience.

"Yes." He grit out with a frown.

"Good. Let's go." Shikamaru started walking and Ino frowned at him. "What now, Ino?"

"Lee didn't even do anything." She said and he groaned.

"I am so done with this fight. Everyone is a bother. This mission is such a drag, I hate everyone." Kankuro smirked and couldn't help but agree.

***

"W-what..." Itachi blinked his eyes tiredly. It was hard to open them all the way. His throat felt incredibly dry. He knew he was covered in sweat but he was so cold. "Kisame?"

Itachi looked around but couldn't see his partner anywhere. He wanted to cry out at the sharp pains he was having through his body but instead bit his lip until it bled. 

"Itachi? You're awake!" Kisame hastened his steps and sat next to Itachi who was writhing on the cave ground. "Oh man, you've been asleep for two days! Please, you gotta drink something." Kisame handed him a canteen and Itachi drank from it quickly. Kisame checked Itachi's temperature with his wrist and frowned. "You're cold." He noted and Itachi touched his own forehead. "Real cold."

"What does any of this mean?" Itachi's voice was raspy since he hadn't spoken in a while.

"I don't know. I think you need a doctor or something." Itachi slowly laid back down on the ground. "Don't fall asleep yet, Itachi. You still need to eat." But Itachi was already passed out and Kisame ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. 

He didn't want his partner to die. He was the only one in the Akatsuki Kisame actually sort of liked. Okay, sort of is an understatement. It was highly speculated that if Itachi died or left the Akatsuki, Kisame would leave. But Itachi was his buddy! 

"Oh man, Itachi..." Kisame grumbled. He wasn't sure he could keep Itachi alive long enough to not involve doctors. He was already severely dehydrated. Kisame took in a deep breath and picked up Itachi and set out to a hospital.

***

"Naruto!" Naruto growled and turned his head to see Sasuke.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"It's been two days since I saw you last." Sasuke said and crossed his arms. Naruto scowled, was that supposed to mean anything to him?

"Hey, remember the time when I didn't see you for nearly 10 months?" Naruto continued his solo training and Sasuke pouted at the back of Naruto's head. "Can I do something for you?"

"Naruto, we have to talk about this bond." Sasuke said and Naruto whipped around so quickly he almost fell over but made sure to catch himself because that wouldn't be very imposing of him.

"The one YOU activated without my go ahead? Yes, please. I'd love to talk about THAT, believe it." Naruto said scathingly and Sasuke stormed over to the omega glaring as best as he could. "Wow, you sure showed me. Thanks for that, asshole. Why are you here anyway?"

"I told you! To talk about the bond!"

"But WHY now? Two days ago you ran off and you ran off from me a week before that. So WHY now?" Naruto asked with an irritated tone.

"Because! We need to!"

"Is it because the bond is affecting you poorly?" Naruto asked and crossed his arms. "It would figure the only way I could get you to talk to me would be to make it physically painful for you not to."

"Could you shut up for like 5 minutes?" Sasuke asked and Naruto's eyes widened in mock hurt.

"Wow! Here I thought you wanted to talk, but now I'm being told to shut up. You're giving me mixed signals, man." Naruto shook his head with a frown.

"Can you let me talk?" Sasuke asked and Naruto surprisingly closed his mouth and stared at Sasuke expectantly. This was not what Sasuke wanted, now he was completely confused and had no idea what to say. He just stared at Naruto blankly. 

"Thanks for that. Real informative. Now if you don't mind, I have to train to become Hokage..." Naruto turned around and Sasuke roughly grabbed his arm and whirled him back to facing him face to face. "So you just want to stare at each other or...?"

"I don't know what to do!" Sasuke said exasperatedly.

"Wow, that's a first. Sasuke Uchiha doesn't know what to do. Crazy. Unheard of. How will the prodigy even cope from here on out?"

"You know, Naruto. You turned into a real sarcastic asshole since I've been gone."

"You've got to be kidding me." Naruto stared at Sasuke trying to formulate words. "You were gone for almost a year and all you have to say to that is I'm sarcastic now?"

"What do you want me to say, Naruto?" Sasuke asked with a growl.

"Oh, I don't know, how about I'M SORRY?!" Naruto screamed. "I'm sorry I LEFT you, Naruto. I'm sorry I RAN from you, Naruto. I'm sorry I let you chase after me for TEN MONTHS, Naruto! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sasuke stared in shock at Naruto's outburst. Naruto's face was pained, there were tears in his eyes and he shook his head. "But it's fine. I didn't mean enough to you to be given a reason as to why you left. I didn't mean enough to apologize to. It's fine. I understand. But don't you dare pretend it's different now because we're soulmates because we were soulmates before too. Before we even knew and you didn't care. So save it. I gotta go." Naruto stormed off and even though it pained him, Sasuke let him go.

***

[8 years ago, The Uchiha Compound]

"He can't come off the force." Fugaku said loudly. Mikoto was nearly in tears.

"Please! He shouldn't do this anymore! You know how dangerous it is for him now!" Fugaku stared at his eldest son with a mixture of disappointment and disgust. 

"Well, no Uchiha in the HISTORY of our clan has ever disgraced our name by coming off the force." Fugaku argued.

"That's because he's the first male Omega in our history, Fugaku!" Mikoto yelled. "It isn't safe! He's only 11 years old and I don't trust him to go on missions alone with grown men!" Mikoto screamed. Itachi just sat on his knees staring at his hands quietly. 

A part of him would love nothing more than to be taken off the ANBU force. He didn't care for fighting anyway. He was forced to continue to be a shinobi since he was good at it. He had the most promise of any ninja his age and even much older than him. Who else could say they were so close to leading their own ANBU team? It was nothing Itachi wanted. He hoped his mother would win the argument.

They were fighting for a week. On Tuesday of last week he started his first heat. They had to lock him in a part of the estate that was strictly off limits. Most of the Uchiha population were alphas so it was even more dangerous for him to be around. Luckily he was surrounded by mostly mated alphas. They were harder to get the attention of. 

Fugaku had been arguing with the Hokage for quite some time about Itachi and he insisted Itachi would be fine and Itachi was more than capable of watching his own back. Thanks, dad.

At some point during the fight, Itachi left the house. He left the clan residency and just walked through Konoha. He looked at people as they passed by and wondered if they knew what an abomination he was. An Uchiha omega. How dare he? How dare he tarnish the legacy of the Uchiha?

"Where you going, there, kid?" Itachi glanced up to see Kakashi and frowned.

"My parents are fighting about me still." He admitted and since Kakashi wore a mask over his face, he had a harder time scenting things. He hadn't realized the problem until he really focused. Then he could smell that Itachi was a freshly anointed omega.

"Oh, Itachi..." He looked at the genius with a frown. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not." Itachi said honestly. "Best case scenario is they take me off the team and I hang up my vest and any dreams my father had of me being a shinobi."

"Don't you mean worst case scenario?" Kakashi altered and Itachi smiled softly.

"I am aware of what I said." Kakashi nodded. He forgot that Itachi hated being a ninja. Poor kid shouldn't have been so fantastic at it.

"What are you, Kakashi-senpai?" Itachi asked, he never thought to ask until now.

"Me? I'm an alpha. But it's hardly anything to brag about. I'd rather be a beta, honestly."

"What's it like with the mask? Doesn't it make it hard to scent people?" Kakashi nodded and the two of them sat down under a tree together.

"Yeah. It's one of the reasons I'm wearing a mask made from this fabric. It makes it almost impossible for me to scent anyone without meaning to. My nose is too sensitive and it would give me migraines."

"Is that the reason you have the mask?" Itachi asked and under his mask, Itachi smiled wryly.

"Uh, no. It isn't, but that's a story for another time. What are you doing in town, anyway?" Kakashi asked and Itachi leaned his head on the trunk of the tree behind him.

"Just getting away. I really hope Sasuke is an alpha. I don't want dad to do this to him too. As much as I don't mind being an omega, Sasuke is really competitive so it would probably break his heart." Kakashi nodded slowly.

"Yeah. He really wants to follow in your footsteps though so maybe he wouldn't mind so much?" Itachi just looked at the sky and didn't respond.

"Well, senpai, I really should go back home. My father is probably furious with me for leaving." Kakashi nodded and stood up, helping the younger boy to his feet.

"Well, you let me know if you need anything." Kakashi said and Itachi nodded and walked back home.

One of the first things that happened to him was he got screamed at. This, he was expecting. What he wasn't expecting was to be told he would be put in an experimental drug to prevent heats entirely.

"What do you mean?" Itachi's eyes were wide. "You're forcing me to get this done and then I can't have kids?"

"You're still a male, Itachi. You can get a nice woman pregnant when the time is right. You don't need the ability to have pups. You'll be fine." Fugaku insisted and Itachi gave a look of panic to his mother. Mikoto was crying but she didn't have much more of a say in the matter. At the head of the house, Fugaku could do essentially whatever he wanted, even destroy his son's body.

"But what happens if the side effects are terrible?" Itachi asked, not hiding his discomfort.

"Anything is better than being an omega. This way, you can stay on the ANBU team." Fugaku smiled at him like he did Itachi a great service and Itachi brokenly stared at his mother and she hoped he was stronger than she was.

When Itachi was administered the drug, it was put directly into his veins and he screamed in agony for several hours. His stomach felt like it was being torn out and he sobbed as blood trickled down his legs and puddled at his feet. 

Hours after his crying ceased, he was finally conscious enough to see his mother's blurred form by his bed. She was stroking his hair and tears were running down her face looking at her 12 year old son laying in blood. 

"I'm so sorry." She whispered and he blinked at her tiredly. His face was white and his lips were dry. He realized he was staring at her with his sharingan and wondered when that activated. He realized why his chakra was so depleted now though.

From outside the door he heard his brother's voice. His heart clenched at that. His poor little brother listened to him scream for god knows how long.

"Is oniisan okay?" 

"He's fine."

"But what's wrong? He was screaming."

"You'll find out when you're an alpha too." Itachi stared at the door, not even feeling energetic enough to get angry. He just stared in defeat, feeling his mother's fingers stroke his hair.

***

[Present Day]

Itachi woke up in a hospital which was strange. He didn't remember a time he was every in a hospital, but here he was. When he glanced to his side, he saw someone he didn't recognize but was able to smell it was Kisame. He must've done a transformation jutsu to keep their identities hidden. Not many unknown shark-men walking around in the world.

"What's going on?" Itachi asked and Kisame frowned at him.

"You have been unconscious for 5 days now." Itachi blinked slowly. "If I didn't get you here, you would be dead. You were so badly dehydrated you went through more bags of saline than I could count." Itachi blinked again. His eyes didn't feel as dry anymore.

"What was wrong with me? Am I better?" Itachi asked and Kisame chuckled dryly.

"I have no idea. They barely know what's going on with you. They said it would be best to wait for you to wake up in order to talk to you to get more information." Kisame said and leaned in, pressing the nurse call button on Itachi's remote. A few minutes later, a nurse walked in and looked brightly at Itachi.

"Oh! You're awake! How wonderful!" She quickly made it to his bedside to get his vitals and Itachi just let her touch him without much hassle. He was too tired. "Okay... Your vitals are looking okay for now. I'm going to grab a doctor." She quickly left and Itachi looked up at Kisame.

"You brought me to a civilian hospital." He noted and Kisame nodded. "Why?"

"Less likely to see through my jutsu. Less likely of getting caught." Itachi nodded.

"Where are we?"

"The Hidden Hot Water Village." Kisame said and Itachi blinked. That means they were close to Kisame's original village.

"I wasn't going to take you back to Konoha. Especially with your psycho little brother running around looking for you." Itachi nodded in thanks and took in a deep breath.

"Mr. Haruno. Nice of you to wake up." Itachi glanced at Kisame curiously and Itachi shrugged his shoulders that said 'what did you want me to say?' and Itachi turned back to the doctor. "I have a few questions for you regarding your stay. Firstly, we noticed a severe, and when I say severe I mean it was a really bad withdraw from a drug I have never seen before." Itachi stared at the doctor with a confused expression. "So I ran it through several labs and I got a match, it's a rare drug known to alter the body in the event of an omega. Do you have any recollection of that?" It could be because Itachi was high on pain medicine, but he actually answered honestly.

"Yes."

"Care to elaborate?"

"My father injected it into my arm about 7 years ago when I first presented as an omega." He said quietly and Kisame frowned. He didn't know Itachi WAS an omega. He assumed he was a beta.

"I see..." The doctor didn't look very happy at the admission but wrote it down and sat on Itachi's hospital bed and looked at him. "The drug wore off." He said and Itachi tilted his head to the side.

"I... I don't know what that means." Itachi said slowly. The drugs really were getting to him.

"It means that they're no longer in your system. We did the best to put you on pain medication since you'll be in quite a bit of pain for a while but your body is changing again. When that drug enters your system it gets rid of the reproductive organs that are privy to an omega. It destroys them from the inside. Now that the drug wore off, your parts are regenerating. It's miraculous, I've never seen body parts regrow like that."

"So this means... I'm an omega again?" Itachi asked and the doctor nodded with a smile.

"You should be expecting your heat soon. I wouldn't recommend going on blockers for this first one, it could really hurt you." Itachi just stared. What the hell was he going to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOA MAN AN ITACHI HEAVY CHAPTER. YASSS I love Itachi, fight me. And a side note, I honestly didn't want Kisame/Itachi because even though I like the ship, Kisame doesn't have ABO dynamics in this fic because he's... a shark man. Not a wolf man lol. So If you're wondering what Kisame is, he is nothing. Poor guy :(
> 
> Anyway...
> 
> 1) Why do you think Neji is being a dickhead?  
> 2) Why do you think I made a big deal of Itachi this chapter?  
> 3) What would you like to see happen in this fic?  
> 4) Would you like Itachi to continue being a sort of main character or should I push him further in the background?
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr! It's where I will post all of my drawings from my fics and you can talk to me whenever! I'd love to hear from you!  
> https://smoresiesfanfic.tumblr.com/


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NaruSasu talk.  
> KisaIta sexy times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : I know I feel bad for him too. I always have the bad things happen to that precious cinnamon roll. I'm glad you're okay with more Itachi because he has a lot of plans in the story~!  
>  **isis2iris** : I put more Ino in this chapter just for you, my dear! I'm glad you're loving the story. I hope you continue to.  
>  **Bumblebees_Girl** : Right??? Itachi is the star of every story even if he isn't the main character.

Chapter Nineteen:

Surprisingly, the mission went by smoothly and Lee and the gang were on their way back to the village to check in with the Hokage. Unfortunately, this frustrated Lee that he had to go all the way to the leaf village to stand there and listen to the team leader tell her about the mission so he could then walk 3 days back to Suna to see his mate. By the time he saw Gaara it would be a bit over a week. Frustrating.

Also, since there was no mission anymore, Neji was back to being a scathing asshole and Lee was really fed up with it by this point. He felt it was unfair that Neji was treating him poorly. What more did Neji want from him?

Ino thankfully called him out on being a dick each time and even yelled at him for it but Neji just rolled his eyes and it was only a matter of time before he was back being an asshole.

"Jesus, please take me back to the Suna village with you so I don't have to be in the same village as that asshole." Ino grumbled with crossed arms as they set up their camp.

"He's usually not bad at all. For whatever reason he's being incredibly hostile to Lee. The only thing I can think of is because Lee is an alpha, maybe he's just being territorial." Shikamaru explained lowly.

"So am I and he isn't being a dick to me." Kankuro piped and Ino looked at him curiously.

"Well then what the hell is his problem?" She mumbled and her and Kankuro began to start the fire so they could cook some of the fish Neji caught. 

"I think Lee should talk to Neji and find out." Shikamaru said and Lee blinked at him. "What? I'm all for the fighting now. The mission is out of the way and we're back in Fire Country. We'll be fine." He smirked and Lee sighed and looked in the direction Neji stalked off to earlier. He'd talk to Neji. Not right now. But he would. For now he just wanted to spend time with people who actually didn't want to make him miserable.

***

"Are you sure you want to omit it completely?" Temari asked, sitting on Gaara's desk looking at the new sketch of the ANBU uniform. 

"There really won't be a need for the headband, honestly." He said and Temari nodded. The uniform was very clean. All black, a mask covering the entire face and head. Gaara made notes in the margins of the cloth type and such. It seemed like a pretty solid uniform.

"Hey, I never asked if you finished reading all of the files." Temari said, and Gaara looked up and sighed.

"I decided to read through our new Genin, so that's done. But now I'm still going through the ANBU. We only have like 10 people in the ANBU but their files are over 80 pages each. It's really a lot. I'm mostly done."

"You're better than me. That just seems like way too much reading. Are you actually retaining everything?" Gaara nodded. 

"Doesn't make it any more fun. Lee should be back in four days though which will be nice, but it'll give me less time to read through everything."

"Weren't they supposed to be back today?" Gaara sighed.

"Yes but as it turns out, the Hokage would like Lee to come to the village to debrief her with the rest of the squad. Kankuro likely could come back if he wanted to but I think he's going to stay with Lee." Temari nodded. She knew Kankuro would stay with Lee. If anything happened to Lee on the way back and Kankuro had already left, Gaara would not be very happy.

"I wonder if Lee will have Kankuro sprint back to Suna." Temari pondered with a smile.

"I wouldn't put it passed him." Gaara said with a scoff.

"I wonder how Lee is doing. Did you find out who was on his team?" Gaara shook his head. 

"I'm sure Lee will tell us when he gets back a day before Kankuro." Gaara said dryly and leaned back on his chair with a sigh. His head was pounding lately. Likely from all the reading he was doing. 

"You should rest. You've been reading for hours. It's late." Temari said and Gaara nodded with a frown but stood up and followed her out, taking the files with him.

***

"Sasuke!?" Sakura gaped and Sasuke sighed and turned to face her. "I knew you were in the village! Why couldn't I find you?"

"Well, obviously because I didn't want to be found. Anyway, have you seen Naruto?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. What the hell was he doing looking for Naruto?

"No. I haven't. I think you owe me an explanation-"

"No I don't. You're not my girlfriend, Sakura."

"But I'm your FRIEND, Sasuke. And I was worried sick and you just left! Why are you back now?"

"I was following a lead on my brother but it was just a blood clone."

"Then why are you here still?" She asked with a look of something resembling hope.

"For my mate." He said simply and glanced around with a scowl.

"Mate...?"

"Yes. Have you gone deaf since I've been gone?" Sakura frowned and Sasuke knew he struck a nerve with her. He didn't care. Honestly, he wondered if Naruto would even be bothered by Sakura. Wasn't Naruto in love with her? The thought made him growl and Sakura took a tentative step back.

"Sasuke, you're acting funny-"

"Stay away from Naruto." Sasuke demanded, his eyes blinking to his sharingan. Sakura stared at him wide eyed. Why was he being so strange?

"Sasuke- I wasn't-"

"Just. Stay. Away." He hissed and jumped off. As he fled he growled to himself. What the hell was making him so possessive? Stupid alpha genes. 

Sasuke stopped running once he made it to the top of the Hokage heads on the mountain and he looked over the village. His mind was running and he was getting increasingly stressed at the prospect of losing his mate. Naruto was his and he was nowhere to be found. Was he hurt? Was he okay? Did someone do something to him? Where was he?

Sasuke rubbed his temples and crossed his legs. He was annoying even himself. He just wanted to talk to Naruto and have a heart to heart, maybe. But now he was stuck running through the village with such a high-strung like attitude. Naruto wouldn't want to talk to him like this. Naruto would hate Sasuke being possessive. He just couldn't help it.

He threw himself back and stared at the darkening sky. The cold chill swept over his body and he shivered. The day was nice. It was a good temperature to be outside in the fresh air. He just wished he could have Naruto next to him to share the moment with.

Sasuke realized he never properly apologized to Naruto. As much as it pained him to apologize, he knew he had to if he wanted to start moving forward with Naruto. If he had to swallow down his pride in order to squash the feeling of helplessness and the ache in his heart and joints from his omega rejecting him, he would have to do it. First, he had to find Naruto.

Standing up and dusting himself off, Sasuke began jumping down to the village. He had a blond to find.

***

"Itachi. We have to go." Kisame said seriously once the doctors and nurses were gone. Itachi's body was fully healed from the inside and he should be going into heat soon. The doctors suggested putting him in a room for it to keep him away from unmated alphas. That would be reasonable but with all the days Kisame stayed in the hospital, he had to keep their appearances up and he was low on chakra. Plus, after Itachi went into heat, the jutsu would likely release and show to staff who they really had been helping.

"I know." Itachi said and ripped the wires off from his body and quickly dressed himself before the nurses could show up and see that his heart monitor was going crazy since he wasn't attached to it anymore. 

Kisame and Itachi jumped out of the window and ran off as quickly as they could into the forest. 

Luckily, Itachi didn't need any pain medication in the slightest. He was fully healed. Unluckily, he felt the prickling feeling of his insides signifying the beginning of his heat. He'd only felt it once before, but he knew that tell-tale sign well. By this time tomorrow he should be in full blown heat.

"How long do we have?" Kisame asked. Kisame didn't have to personally worry about any ABO dynamics since he wasn't any of them. He was extremely thankful for that and just wished there were more of his type of people around to help him with things of that nature. He would never understand.

"A day at most." Itachi said and Kisame nodded and released his jutsu and was able to see Itachi's face again. There was something about his face that was different. Softer, almost. Kisame pursed his lips and they ran off. 

Everything about Itachi seemed different physically. He almost felt delicate. Kisame still wouldn't try to fight the guy even if he were an omega. He wondered how his omega genes being present would alter his personality. He hoped it didn't change in the slightest. He liked that most about Itachi. He couldn't imagine Itachi submitting to someone. It just didn't make sense. 

"Itachi, I don't think we'll make it to the hideout by then." Kisame said quietly and saw the smallest inclination of Itachi's head. His face was hardened like a stone. He was thinking. 

"There will be several hotels for that... reason on our way to the hideout. I guess we'll have to stop at one." Itachi said and Kisame was thankful for not being part of his race and being able to scent people. A hotel for when omegas go into heat on the road. Man, if something sounded like it smelled unpleasant, it would be that.

"Are we going to stop at the first one we see?" Kisame asked and Itachi nodded. As the moments passed, he felt his body warm up from the inside out. He needed to get somewhere safe. Once omega were in heat, it was more difficult to defend themselves. His biggest saving grace was that Kisame was with him. Kisame wouldn't be affected by his heat and Itachi could always count on Kisame for having his back.

Feeling momentarily grateful, Itachi pushed more speed into his step. They should pass by the first hotel in a few hours.

"Kisame?" Kisame glanced over at Itachi and was amazed to see the unsure expression on his face.

"I don't know how I'll act..." He trailed off and Kisame nodded slowly.

"Just tell me what you want me to do." He said and again, Itachi was thankful for it.

***

"Neji." Neji looked up. He was sitting by the lake while the others were huddled by the fire. Darkness had set and the lake in front of them sparkled in the moonlight and the water reflected the dark sky. "I would like to talk to you."

"Hm. I wondered how long that would take." Neji said, brushing Lee of with his nonchalance.

"Neji, we are teammates. We have been for years. Please, tell me what is going on. Why are you acting this way? Have I annoyed you? How can I fix it? I do not want you angry at me anymore. I cannot take it." Neji frowned but said nothing. "Neji. Please talk to me."

"I despise you." Neji's cold tone cut through the air like a knife. "That's all there is to it."

"But... why? I am an alpha now. You do not have to hate me-"

"Lee." Neji cut him off. "You aren't supposed to be an alpha. By all logistical accounts, you should be an omega. You are an anomaly and you just keep proving to me that there is something fickle about destiny and I don't like it. You have no right calling yourself an alpha."

"That is not fair, Neji. Why did everyone assume I'd be an omega? That isn't fair either. Because I am too soft spoken? Because I am too polite? Why do you hate me because I'm an alpha?"

"BECAUSE." Neji hissed. "You were SUPPOSED to be an omega." Lee blinked.

"Apparently I was not, considering I am not an omega. Why does it bother you so much? Why can't you just be happy for me?"

"This conversation isn't even worth my time." Neji jumped up and took off. Lee sighed and stared at the calm waters of the lake. He thought about his mate and how much he missed him. It wasn't fair that they were so far apart. 

"Hey." Lee glanced up and saw Ino. She sat down by him. "Take it the talk didn't go so well?"

"No." Lee sighed and they both stared at the lake.

"What's it like? I've never been to Suna. Is it nice?" Lee wanted to laugh. He honestly was only there for about 2 days before he was sent out again.

"I think it will be a lot harder to get used to. It is a desert. Not very forgiving. I would not trade it for the world if it means I stay with Gaara, though. I do prefer the climate in Konohagakure, however." Ino nodded, it made sense.

"How do people treat you? You're the Kazekage's mate, so do they treat you like royalty?" Lee smiled at the question.

"No. They mostly treat me like I'm a danger to Gaara. To be fair, I usually show up and get around their defenses pretty easily getting to Gaara. The people in the village are mainly curious though. Gaara was not the... most... sane person for a while. They are still getting used to the idea that he's protecting them now. It is my job to make sure they see him in a more human light. They seem to be warming up to him though."

"Does it feel weird that your omega is the breadwinner?" Ino asked, no hint of teasing at all. Just curiosity. Lee could understand why. It must be difficult to understand to people who weren't in the situation. 

"No. I think one thing that really helps us with the situation would be that Gaara was brought up as an alpha and I was brought up as an omega so honestly it does not feel any different."

"So he's the alpha in the relationship?" Ino said with a teasing smirk. He didn't sense and malice from her.

"I suppose he is." Lee said, coloring slightly. "Is that weird?"

"I mean, I guess. But don't let that keep you down. If you're happy, that's all that matters, right?" Lee nodded. "Well then, be the omega'd up alpha all you want. You have the perfect mate to have that with." Lee could not agree more. He only wished it would help him get to Gaara quicker. He just wanted to see Gaara.

***

"Naruto." Sasuke said to the blond. Naruto blinked and looked down at his door.

Sasuke was in Naruto's (no cleaned) apartment but Naruto's door was locked so he had no idea how Sasuke got in to begin with.

"Can I help you?" Naruto asked and shut the door and kicked off his shoes. Sasuke stood up from the chair he was on and Naruto looked around the apartment curiously, wondering why his alpha cleaned his apartment. He would think if any alpha was "above" mundane chores, it would be Sasuke. "Why are you even here?"

"You know why I'm here, Naruto." Sasuke said flatly with a frown on his face. Naruto rolled his eyes and went to argue but Sasuke cut him off. "I'm here to apologize." Naruto's eyes bugged out and he stared in amazement at the fact that those words were even in Sasuke's vocabulary. "I'm not good at expressing myself. Honestly I don't care to. But I feel like I have to say something at least. I know I left. I left because I wanted to get stronger to defeat my brother. I..." Sasuke looked irritated. "I came back to the village because I heard he was near here. The last time he had a run in with you, I ran through the entire village because I knew he was after you. The akatsuki is after Jinchuriki and... even if you weren't my mate..." Sasuke looked annoyed at himself but he really couldn't bring himself to say 'I was worried about you'.

"You came back to the village because you thought they were after me?" Naruto asked and Sasuke's cheeks burned and he didn't look happy in the slightest but he gave a curt nod. "...why?"

"I don't know." He scowled, and honestly that was the truth. He didn't know why it bothered him as much as it did but he made damn sure to get to the village as quickly as he could just to make sure Naruto was safe. He didn't think twice about it and he realized now how strange that was for him to do. Especially without even realizing. "But I guess I knew you were my mate even when I didn't know you were my mate..."

"Hm..." Naruto looked pensive. Sasuke didn't like any type of somber looking emotions on Naruto's face. They didn't suit his personality. His loud, annoying, boisterous personality. "You're still an asshole."

"I'm very aware of that." Sasuke said simply and Naruto gave him a weak grin. It then slid off his face and he glared at Sasuke.

"So care to explain why Sakura showed up in tears and yelled at me about you?" Sasuke wasn't proud, but he did blush. In a mixture of shame and anger. 

"She bothered me and then I remembered that you were in love with her so..." Sasuke stopped talking and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Whatever Sasuke. Come on. I'm hungry. You can buy me dinner." Naruto said and Sasuke smirked at him. 

"Ramen?"

"You bet, asshole. Let's go. Hope your wallet is ready cause I'm REALLY hungry, believe it." Sasuke rolled his eyes and they left to go get some dinner.

***

Kisame sat in the room with Itachi. Even though it would be terribly awkward, it was the best place for him to be. This way no one could get in the room and harm Itachi. Kisame was uncomfortable to be in a hotel like this and didn't really feel comfortable sitting on the bed so sat on one of the chairs that were in the room. Itachi was lying on the bed, dripping sweat. He was restless and most of his clothes were stripped down. 

Kisame rubbed his temples looking at the scene. It was stressing him out. Itachi looked absolutely miserable and if there was one person Kisame thought in the world should never be miserable, it was Itachi. Poor guy suffered enough.

Itachi didn't make many noises. He was surprisingly controlled for the stage of the heat he was in. Not that Kisame knew from experience, but the doctor did give him a lot of information about how to help with heat and just the basics.

Itachi sat up on the bed and he was breathing heavily. His hair was a scattered mess and his clothes were wet from his sweat. He yanked the remaining clothes off and Kisame was just surprised to see Itachi pull his underwear off like that. Itachi rubbed his face in frustration and rocked himself on the bed. 

"I can't..." He whispered to himself and ran his fingers through his hair. He was uncomfortable in his skin. It hurt to be in his skin. He rubbed his arms aggressively and like a switch, Kisame saw the expression change. It was instant. It went from severely uncomfortable, to seriously horny. 

The expression brought Itachi back to earlier. Itachi was explaining what would happen and he wanted Kisame to have complete control of the situation if needed.

_"I will likely beg you to have sex with me. I'm telling you right now, if I beg, you don't need to worry about it changing anything for us if you do sleep with me. I just want you to know, if you don't want to sleep with me, that is also fine. And Kisame, I'm sorry for putting you in this position."_

At the time, Kisame was adamant that he wouldn't sleep with Itachi. Why would he sleep with his partner? That was weird, right? But Itachi's expression as he sat on the bed was a real test of his self-control. Until this point he didn't realize he could be excited from looking at a naked Itachi. To be fair, he really didn't have much of a surplus of times where this was a thing that happened. 

Itachi didn't beg though. Kisame watched Itachi touch his own erection. He marveled when Itachi fingered himself, hearing the wet sounds. Itachi's noises were soft and nearly silent. Even when he came, it was with a lip bite instead of a moan. 

How the hell was this one of the most erotic things Kisame ever witnessed?

Itachi showed amazing self-control. For the first few hours, it was just non-stop of him playing with himself. Kisame felt as if he were in a deep layer of hell and honestly wanted to repent for his sins if it meant he didn't have to be teased in this room for a second longer. 

After the fourth hour, Itachi just couldn't do it anymore. The bed was soaked with his slick and his cock showed no signs of going down and he was just so tired.

"Kisame..." He whimpered. Kisame stood up much faster than what was considered to be smooth and he knocked the table over but didn't really pay attention.

"Yes, Itachi?" He asked and Itachi spread his legs apart and looked at Kisame with a begging look but by this point, Kisame was already throwing his clothes off. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, thank everyone for this moment. "I got you, Itachi." Kisame said and Itachi tilted his head to the side in curiosity as Kisame undressed. Much to his satisfaction, even though Kisame wasn't an alpha with a knot, his cock was a lot bigger than the average. 

Kisame climbed onto the bed and it dipped under his weight and he got between Itachi's legs. There was nothing nice and slow about it. Kisame had already been on the verge of an orgasm for the past 3 and a half hours. He wasn't going to play coy with Itachi in his heat. 

The thought of Itachi being a virgin didn't even cross his mind when he pushed himself inside Itachi roughly. Itachi's fingernails dug into Kisame's back and the brief moment of pain made him shiver. Itachi felt way too stretched out. Kisame was too big. 

As Kisame started moving, Itachi couldn't find himself to care. He raised his hips up so Kisame had a better angle and just feeling Kisame move inside of him was enough to make him cum all over himself with a whine. 

"Jesus, Itachi." Kisame breathed. The tightening around his cock was enough to make him see stars. He didn't even think Itachi could get tighter than he was. 

Itachi's orgasm gave Kisame more lubrication as he slid in and out of Itachi's hole. 

"Kisame." Itachi was breathing heavily. "Can we change positions?" Kisame wanted to say no because he was enjoying himself just fine how they were but he complied and pulled himself out of Itachi and wanted to cry at the lack of warmth. Itachi turned over and got on all fours and Kisame's eyebrows raised up high on his forehead. Well, okay. He could deal with this position. 

Moving his hips in a seductive, tantalizing way, Kisame growled at Itachi and stilled his hips so he could sink back into the tight wetness of his ass. Itachi actually moaned and the sound ran through Kisame's body like lightening. 

Kisame was so deep inside Itachi he could feel him all the way at his cervix and even then, Kisame wasn't in all the way. Itachi gripped the headboard and pushed himself back on Kisame's cock, feeling his own begin to harden again. He couldn't contemplate the level of pleasure he felt through his body at that point.

It didn't take much else for Itachi to finish again, but this time, the feeling of Itachi's orgasm sent Kisame over the edge as well. He didn't think about it much and he thrust into Itachi with a moan each throb of his orgasm.

***

The team was finally at the village and Lee practically made a mad dash for the Hokage's office and with a sigh, Shikamaru hastened his step. He knew Lee really wanted to get back home and with all of Shikamaru's laziness, he understood Lee still had 3 more days to get back to his own home so he put Lee's needs above his own and ran with the poor guy.

Upon giving the briefing, the Hokage paid the ninja for their services and Lee grabbed Kankuro by the arm and dragged him towards the gate. Kankuro wanted to cry. There were so many good places to eat here and they wouldn't be able to go to any of them with the rate Lee was dragging them home.

"Wait!" Lee paused and turned around to see Ino. She was holding something. 

"Ino? What are you doing?" Lee asked and she smiled and handed them a bag.

"Just some food. I figured you guys would be hungry but I also figured you'd drag Kankuro out of the village too soon to eat." Kankuro looked at Ino like rainbows came out of her ass and pulled her in for a tight hug.

"You're the hero we don't deserve." He said, just a tad bit emotionally and Lee smiled sweetly.

"Thank you, Ino. That was very kind of you." He said and she smiled and nodded.

"Get back to your man. Hope to see you soon!" Ino ran back and Kankuro was already pulling out food and eating it, almost choking once Lee started pulling him along at high speed. 

"We can go slower, you know!" Kankuro yelled at Lee but Lee wasn't paying much attention. 

As annoyed as Kankuro was though, he was glad to know that someone cared about his brother as much as Lee did. It at least made that better. 

***

Three days Itachi stayed in heat. Kisame wasn't even sure how either of them were moving. One thing was for sure, whoever did the cleaning at this establishment needed a raise. With every position and place he took Itachi at, it was a surprise if any surface was cleaned. 

Honestly, Kisame couldn't even remember how many times both of them finished. Itachi was so easy to get to finish. He came at the smallest thrust. There was something about that which was arousing in its own right. Kisame liked to finish each time inside Itachi and see how long it took for Itachi's thighs to be covered in Kisame's semen. 

At the point they were at now, they were both lying in bed with Itachi curled up on Kisame's side. It was the most vulnerable thing Kisame ever saw Itachi do. It was adorable. 

"Kisame..." Itachi rasped and Kisame reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a glass of water and handed it to Itachi. Itachi drank it all in one gulp. It was difficult enough to get Itachi to drink for the 3 days he was in heat. Itachi didn't eat anything no matter what. Kisame was weak with hunger several times through the days since every time he went to eat, Itachi would beg for Kisame to fuck him again. And Kisame wasn't proud to say that he would consistently chose to mount Itachi over eating. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Kisame said simply and put the cup back on the night stand. Itachi's head was resting on Kisame's chest and he was looking up at Kisame through squinted eyes. "Are you okay?"

"My eyes burn."

"You're probably tired. You've been up for quite some time." Kisame said and Itachi looked down at their bodies. Itachi had more bruises now than he did any of the times he fought. Kisame's body wasn't much better.

"Sorry." Itachi said quietly and Kisame scoffed. 

"Nothing to be sorry over. Your heat finally done?" Itachi nodded weakly. "Should we sleep or eat?"

"... eating would be better but I'm too tired so I'll just go to sleep." Itachi said and made an embarrassing whine when Kisame jumped up from the bed. "What are you doing?" Itachi asked and Kisame tugged on his clothes.

"You're hungry. I'll be right back." Kisame left the room and Itachi blinked. Kisame never jumped up like that for him before. He wished he could remember most of his heat. His temperature was too high for his brain to be functioning correctly.

Not too long after, Kisame was back with a bag and he opened it and handed it to Itachi. Itachi's eyebrows pushed together in confusion and he looked up at Kisame. Onigiri with seaweed and dango. His two favorite foods. 

"How did you-" Kisame held his hand up, effectively stopping Itachi from talking and Itachi ate the food gratefully. He was so hungry there was an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. And there was one in his lower abdomen too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Next chapter is GaaLee reunion. Anything you'd like to see happen with them?  
> 2) I'm getting asked about Ino a lot, should she come visit the Suna village (of course under the guise of a mission)  
> 3) Any ships at this point you'd like to see?  
> 4) What is UP with Kisame? Haha amirite?
> 
> This is my most popular story and I would love some comments to make sure everyone is enjoying the way it's headed. Please take some time to leave me some love! (I promise it'll take less time than it took me to write this chapter, as it took about 3 hours to write)


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itachi goes to the doctor  
> Ino and Shikamaru get a mission  
> Sasuke and Kakashi talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **isis2iris** : I would love for Gaara to surprise Lee. But I have no idea how to do that lol.  
>  **The_BookDragon** : Then you probably called this chapter! Haha  
>  **Bumblebees_Girl** : He was kind of spun in this chapter. More or less flopped around lol. I'm glad you're enjoying the Kisame/Itachi bit. I never read a fic with them (I let you guys pick the pairing, it's one I don't have much experience with lol) So happy to know you like it.  
>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : I thought I explained it in the hospital chapter but I realize I deleted that part to rewrite it and forgot to add those important doctor notes so I had Kisame explain! I would love for them to be happy! I just don't know how to get them there. I totally forgot about Neji this chapter NGL. I always love Ino.  
>  **Desbelleschoses** : We have an obnoxious lee just for you~!  
>  **Orcana** : Kisame is fun to write so that was pretty cute. It was interesting writing, that's for sure.  
>  **Applefritter** : possessive Sasuke is my aesthetic. I do enjoy Kisame quite a bit. Ino is always the beacon of positivity in my life lol. I'm glad you're enjoying!

Chapter Twenty:

Gaara was sitting at the large round table in the conference room discussing things with the elders. He would honestly rather be doing literally anything else. Times like this he missed not being a Kazekage. He hadn't even been one long, but still. 

"GAARA! I WAS TOLD YOU WOULD BE HERE!" Lee yelled, effectively silencing the council. Gaara hid his smirk behind his hand and everyone just kind of stared at him.

"Hello, Lee. It's been a while." Gaara greeted and removed his hand to smile at his mate. Lee ran over and picked Gaara up in a hug and squeezed him tightly and shook him back and forth with excitement.

"I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!"

"Lee, please put me down." Gaara said, muffled against Lee's chest. Lee blushed and placed the Kazekage down gently. He now realized the council. He had been so excited to see Gaara he didn't even notice them.

"Oh! I am so sorry! I did not mean to interrupt. My most sincere apologies." He bowed and Gaara raised a brow at his alpha. He was such an omega sometimes.

"Please, sit down next to me." Gaara said and Lee was brought a chair by one of the shinobi standing around the room. Lee went to refuse to sit considering he didn't belong on the council but the look Gaara gave him left no room for argument so he sat down next to Gaara and grinned when Gaara held his hand. "Continue." Gaara said and leaned back in his chair and eyed the man speaking.

It was rather exciting to see his mate in action be Kazekage even if it were only something as boring as being in a meeting. Temari was there too. She looked about ready to hang herself. 

When the meeting was over, Lee had enough class to wait until everyone else cleared out of the room to attack Gaara in a heated kiss. 

"I missed you so much." Lee said in-between kisses. He held Gaara's face firmly in place and he felt Gaara smirk against his lips. 

"I missed you too, Lee." Gaara replied quietly. "Very much."

"Mmm." Lee nuzzled his face against Gaara's neck and inhaled the scent of his mate. It really calmed his nerves and he felt significantly better about everything now that he had Gaara next to him. Through the mission he became more and more irritable since he was away from Gaara for so long. Going nearly a week without him, seeing him for two days and then going another 9 days without him was more than frustrating. "Let's go home." 

"Lee. I can't. I have work." Gaara said with a frown. "Can you wait until later?"

"But... I haven't seen you in 9 days. I missed you." Lee's expression was hard to say no to. Gaara eyed Lee with a raised brow, then sighed.

"Alright, you've convinced me. Let's go." Lee grinned happily.

"It is so good to finally be with you!" Lee kissed Gaara's cheek and Gaara felt warm.

***

"A mission in Suna?" Ino said, surprised. "That's so random."

"I know, but there's a lot of rogue ninja that have been spotted near there and the council of elders is worried it has something to do with an assassination attempt to the Kazekage. Much to Gaara's chagrin, they have requested backup. You and Shikamaru will go until they've decided the threat has been taken care of. Pack accordingly. And remember, it's a three day trip." Tsunade said and Ino and Shikamaru nodded and they were dismissed.

Once they left the Hokage's office building, Ino turned to Shikamaru.

"Wow, it's so strange that literally we were with Lee two weeks ago and now we're going to go see him and Kankuro. This is kind of exciting. I wonder where we'll be staying."

"I don't know. Such a drag to walk all the way to Suna. Three days, jeez. They couldn't have picked anyone else? This is hardly fair." Shikamaru sighed and Ino smirked. "What?"

"I think you're excited to see Lee again. You seemed to like him." Shikamaru frowned.

"Hardly. He's way too... lively." Ino giggled and nodded. "Alright, how fast can you pack?"

"I'll be done getting ready in like an hour." Shikamaru nodded.

"Alright. We'll meet at the gate in an hour and a half."

"Okay. Sounds good. See you then." She said and they split up.

***

"Hey, Itachi, are you feeling alright?" Kisame asked randomly and Itachi rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Yeah. Just exhausted." Itachi said quietly and Kisame sighed.

"You've been acting funny for a while. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine, Kisame. You worry too much." Itachi said calmly and they took their robes off and hid them, then used a transformation jutsu to enter a village undetected. "You get the supplies on this list. I'm going to grab them from this list." Kisame nodded and grabbed the list and quickly walked off. He would need to get the things quickly so they could get back to the base. The quicker he got everything, the quicker Itachi could go to sleep. He looks like he hadn't gotten sleep in days.

Itachi was miserable. He was dizzy, lightheaded, tired, cranky and just all around in a bad mood. Luckily Kisame didn't see the extent of the terrible mood Itachi was in since Itachi didn't speak much to begin with. 

Itachi pocketed his list and quickly made his way to a doctor office. He had to get this done quickly before Kisame noticed he was gone. 

Once he found one that specialized in omegas, he entered and quickly signed in at the front and sat on one of the chairs in the waiting area. There wasn't anyone else there at the time since they were due to close soon but Itachi couldn't hold this off anymore.

"Fugaku Haruno." They called and he sighed at the false name but it was the first thing that came to mind. The fake last name Kisame used at the hospital, and his father's name. He stood up and followed the nurse to the hallway and she stopped at a door. "Please pee in one of the cups, leave it in this cabinet when you're done. Please write your initials on the side." She walked off and he looked at her retreating form confused. There was no one else here. How would they get his urine sample mixed up?

Itachi had a hard time peeing on demand so it took a minute for him to actually be able to fill the cup. He put it in the small double doored cabinet and washed his hands. When he walked out, he was led to another room and got his height, weight, blood pressure and so on. Once that was done he was asked his reason for coming in. He just told them.

He was put on a drug when he was 12, had his reproductive system destroyed, it apparently healed itself, he went into heat and now he was miserable. Itachi wasn't stupid, he was fairly certain what it was. But with all of the difficulties he had, he wanted to make sure. Maybe coming here they would tell him since the drug destroyed his reproductive system initially, he wouldn't be able to have pups ever. He just had to be sure.

The nurse looked at him sympathetically. Itachi could tell she was a beta by her smell. She was very calm and listened to him intently. When she was done writing everything down, she smiled at him and told him the doctor would be in shortly.

It took less than 5 minutes for the doctor to walk in. He was holding the clipboard the nurse had and he was examining it. 

"Alright, Mr. Haruno. I want to express my sincerest apologies for whatever it is that happened to you. Before I give you any results from the pregnancy test we administered with your urine sample, I'd like to do an ultrasound. Is that alright?" Itachi nodded and the doctor rolled his chair over and turned the machine on. Squirting slimy cold gel on Itachi's stomach, Itachi shivered at the feel and the doctor was rubbing it around with the transducer. Itachi glanced at the screen but it didn't make much sense. The doctor was really pressing hard on his abdomen though and it was kind of painful. 

Taking several pictures and measurements, he saved them to the computer and printed them out. Itachi didn't really notice much, but he didn't know what anything on the screen was. What a peculiar machine. He'd never seen one before.

"Alright." The doctor put the transducer down and gave Itachi a paper towel to wipe his stomach off. "The results of the pregnancy test say that it's a positive." He said and Itachi's heart dropped. He didn't say anything, just grit his teeth tightly. "The sonogram pictures prove that you are. It's really early though." He handed Itachi the pictures he printed out and pointed to a small dot. "There's your little guy right there."

Itachi just stared at it in awe. He looked down at his stomach and pushed his eyebrows together confused. What would he do now?

"I'm sorry you had to go through that terrible drug, there's a reason it's illegal everywhere. But at least you know now that you are fertile enough to carry pups." The doctor said positively. "However, there is still other options if you find yourself... unhappy with this outcome." He said sincerely and Itachi looked at him completely lost. What should he do?

"Thank you, doctor." Itachi wound up dismissing everything. He just needed air. He pocketed the pictures.

"Please, schedule a follow up appointment. We can talk more about your options then." Itachi nodded stiffly and quickly left the room.

***

"Sasuke!" Sasuke looked over his shoulder to see his sensei. 

"Kakashi? What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked and he could tell Kakashi was staring at him in annoyance. 

"I live in the village. I heard you were back but you somehow managed to avoid me for almost 4 weeks. How did you manage that one?"

"You likely didn't look very hard." Sasuke responded blandly and Kakashi nodded.

"I'll give you that." Kakashi walked closer to Sasuke and sat down. "Seriously though. Where have you been? You were almost labeled as a rogue ninja."

"I was trying to find my brother. Ironically, he was the one who led me back to the village too." Sasuke said with a frown and sat next to his sensei. "I'll get him eventually."

"That doesn't sound like the Sasuke I'm used to. What mellowed you out?" Sasuke's face colored. "Oh. Did you find a mate? Who is it?" Kakashi's voice was light and teasing and that just made it worse. 

Sasuke and Naruto knew they were mates. This did not mean he was getting anywhere romantically with him though. At this point he was lucky to see him do anything but eat or train. At least being in close proximity made it easier to deal with. 

"Naruto." Sasuke admitted with a sigh and Kakashi snorted. "What?"

"Wait, you were serious?" Kakashi blinked. "Wow. I don't know if that was really unexpected, or extremely obvious."

"He's angry at me still for leaving. I don't even know what to do anymore." Sasuke said and started playing with the grass beneath him. 

"What have you tried to do?"

"I apologized, I cleaned his apartment, more times than once I may add. He is filthy for an omega. I buy him ramen all the time."

"Have you tried courting him?" Kakashi asked and Sasuke raised a eyebrow.

"What do you mean courting him?"

"I mean, yeah you're doing things for him but you never really did anything... uh, I guess romantic is the best way to explain it. Have you tried to do anything that had romance in mind?" Sasuke frowned.

"Doesn't anything I do count?"

"Not if you don't put certain efforts in. What's the difference between you buying him ramen versus a friend buying him ramen? Is it a date-like atmosphere?" 

"I guess not. I just kind of... let him ignore me. He's still angry."

"And he has a right to be, but you need to try and do something to change that. Woo him." Kakashi stood up. "Good luck."

"Where are you going, sensei?"

"To see my own mate." Sasuke blinked. 

"I didn't even know you had one..." He mumbled and Kakashi chuckled and left before Sasuke had a chance to ask who it was.

***

"Thank you. This is exactly what I wanted." Gaara said with a rare smile. He ran his fingers over the fabric and glanced up at the seamstress. "You did a beautiful job."

"Thank you, Kazekage-sama." She said, beaming with pride. "It was an honor to make. Would you like more of this?"

"Just give me a moment. Lee." Lee turned his head. "Please, try this on so I can see how it looks. It wouldn't be wise of me to call an actual ANBU member in right now." Lee saluted with a grin and grabbed the uniform heap and ran to the other room to change. 

"Is that your mate?" The seamstress asked with a smile. She was raised to fear Gaara. This was before he became Kazekage. As Kazekage, he did a wonderful job. The prospect of having him have her create the new ANBU uniform was amazing. He wrote which fabrics to use and she was impressed he had that much knowledge of fabrics. Something about him set her at ease. 

"Yes. That is my alpha." Gaara said, eyeing the door Lee left from. "What is your name?"

"Aki, Kazekage-sama." She introduced.

"Please. Kazekage is fine." He dismissed and she blinked. Why wouldn't the Kazekage want the correct honorific? "Thank you for your hard work, Aki."

"Yes! It is not a problem at all! I am just impressed with your clear familiarity of different materials in order to write the pattern to begin with." Gaara nodded his head curtly.

"I used to make my own clothes." He said calmly, he didn't elaborate much.

"That is very impressive." Aki said and Lee came out from the bathroom. 

"How do I look?" Lee asked, smiling. 

The base uniform was entirely black. The fabric on the forearms was tight, holding the skin but from the elbow up, it was more loose to ensure better movement. The same went for the leg area. Around the calves was tight, but above the knee was loose. The chest had a protective vest over it that was more dark gray than it was black. It accented Lee's body well. It was nice seeing Lee in other colors.

"I like it." Gaara said to Aki. "If you would be so kind as to make me 15 of these uniforms to start with, I would be grateful." Aki bowed.

"Of course, Kazekage. I would be honored." She was beaming with happiness, proud to know that the Kazekage was impressed with her work.

"How does it feel?"

"Like I am barely in anything." Lee said and moved his arms and legs around. "It is very light weight."

"Coming from a man who wears spandex. Impressive." Gaara said with a slight smirk and Lee grinned at him.

"It is one of the best things to work out in!" Lee said.

"Doesn't do you much good with camouflage in the desert though."

"Oh and like your dark red clothes do?" Lee retorted and Gaara smirked at him.

"I'll give you that one."

"Oh, by the way, I overheard while I was getting changed. Shikamaru and Ino left the leaf village so they'll be here." Gaara nodded. 

"Have you set up accommodations for them?" Gaara asked and his eyes flitted to Aki who began packing her things to take her leave.

"I-I thought maybe they could stay with us?" Gaara's brow raised. "The whole reason they are here is to protect you-"

"Lee I don't need anyone protecting me. 

"But-"

"They can stay with us, but I don't need protecting." Gaara's voice was hard. He hated being babied. What part of Shukaku's Ultimate Defense did they not understand? He didn't need protection, he had his own.

"Whatever you say, Gaara." Lee said with a resigned sigh and walked Aki out of the building. "I am sorry for that."

"No, it's fine. The Kazekage probably is stressed out since he isn't used to people defending him." Aki said simply. 

"Yes. Although it is frustrating. We just want his safety." Lee said and bit the inside of his cheek. Why did Gaara make it so difficult to protect him?

"Just try to make it seem like you're building friendships and allies instead of making it seem like they're just there to protect him. I'm sure the Kazekage would rather have friends than he would more guards. He has enough." Aki smiled and bowed. "Thank you for seeing me out. The uniform looks great on you." She complimented with a giggle and skipped off. 

"Friends, huh?" Lee mumbled to himself. That idea wasn't half bad.

***

"Itachi! There you are! Do you have everything?" Itachi nodded and they quickly left the village. 

Itachi's mind was still reeling. He couldn't remember correctly, but he was pretty sure the doctor in the hospital said something about pregnancy being difficult to achieve from that point.

"Kisame, do you remember everything the doctor said about my condition in the hospital?" He asked and Kisame thought for a moment. Realization came over him. Itachi must still be ill from the time they went to the hospital. Poor guy was probably still healing.

"Uh... Yeah a bit." Kisame said and they reached the destination where they stuffed their cloaks. Itachi released his transformation jutsu and put his coat on, for some reason, the weight of the pictures were heavy in his pocket.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Yeah hold on I'm trying to remember everything." Kisame said and he put on his own cloak. "Uh, ok. He said your insides were essentially destroyed before so they were healing with the medicine you were on. He also said don't be surprised if you could never actually conceive since the damage that came to it was so bad." Kisame thought hard. He knew there was more. "He said you'd be feeling sick for a while. Your heat would be bad but you likely won't have another one for a while or at all... Oh and after your first heat you can go on blockers."

That made sense why Kisame didn't think to use protection. Itachi sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Itachi just had no idea where to go from here. Should he even tell Kisame? Should he keep the baby? Kisame never saw Itachi look so distraught.

"Hey, it'll be alright." Kisame attempted to appease his partner. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You dealt with some tough shit. You can get through this too." 

Itachi didn't respond. He just walked. And as he walked, he felt the stiffness of the pictures in his pocket brush against his leg over and over again. It got harder to deal with and Itachi just wanted to be told what to do. He was only 19. The weight of everything was overwhelming. He wasn't sure how it was easier being a member of the Akatsuki than it was to deal with the news about being pregnant, but it was.

"Itachi?" Itachi glanced over at Kisame. "Are you sure you're going to be alright? You just zoned out for a solid 5 minutes."

"I did?" Itachi pushed his eyebrows together. "Sorry. I didn't realize."

"Let's just get back to the base. You should really sleep." Itachi nodded slowly.

***

"This is such a drag." Shikamaru groaned. They could finally see the sand village but that didn't mean that it was a comfortable trip. It was so hot in the desert, he was suddenly jealous of Ino's outfit and the lack of clothing it required.

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Ino said while she fanned herself. 

When they finally made it to the gates, Kankuro stood there with his arms crossed while grinning at them.

"How the hell do you wear black? What is wrong with you?" Ino asked and his grin faded.

"I grew up here." He said simply and smiled again. "Come on. Mi casa es su casa." 

"We'll be staying with you?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah. By order of the Kazekage. Which means that Lee probably told Gaara that you two would stay with us and Gaara just said whatever. Anyway, let's get to it." 

Walking around the village was interesting. She understood why Lee said he missed their own village. She much preferred Konoha to Suna if this is how hot it was here.

"So we're staying with the Kazekage himself?" Ino asked, realizing after a minute what staying with Kankuro entailed.

"Yeah buddy." Kankuro called back to her. "Don't worry. He doesn't bite much anymore. Lee keeps him acting good."

"Where is Lee, anyway?" Ino asked as she looked around.

"He had an important meeting to attend. This is code for 'Gaara has an important meeting to attend and he doesn't want to be stuck in the room with a bunch of boring old men and Temari.' " Kankuro explained and Ino smirked.

"It's sweet that he would save his mate like that. Only true love." She said with a laugh.

"Lucky me, I don't have to be there. I was told I'd only have to go to war meetings and hopefully that won't happen for a while. Aaand here we are." Kankuro led them inside and they were impressed at the spaciousness of it. "Gaara and Lee will be here shortly. Make yourselves at home.

***

Sasuke stood in front of Naruto with a pout and an embarrassed blush on his face as he held out a single rose.

"Uh... Sasuke, what is that?"

"It's a rose, you idiot." Sasuke said, still not looking at Naruto in the face. 

"Okay..."

"For you."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because you're my bonded person. I thought I'd... like... woo you or whatever." A grin stretched across Naruto's face. "What?"

"You're such a sap, you know that?" Sasuke growled.

"Whatever. Are you going to take the stupid rose or not?" Sasuke asked and Naruto took the rose from Sasuke's hand and stuffed it in his jacket so it poked out.

"So what's next on this romance extravaganza?" Naruto asked and Sasuke blinked. He finally looked at Naruto in the face and their eyes locked. His mind went blank. "Sasuke?"

"Um." Sasuke blinked. "Ramen?" Naruto stared at Sasuke for a minute and then grinned again.

"Alright, you know how to capture my attention. Let's go."

"Naruto." Naruto stopped mid step and turned to face Sasuke. "This is a date." He informed and Naruto chuckled.

"You're just telling me? Not asking?"

"Would you say yes if I asked?"

"I don't know, you might have to ask." Sasuke frowned.

"Naruto. Will you get ramen with me?... As a date?" Jesus this was mortifying.

"As long as you're paying!" Naruto said loudly with a laugh and put his hands behind his neck and started to walk. Sasuke quickly caught up with him and they walked in a slow synchronized pace. It was nice. 

***

"So you see, Gaara, I feel as though you should look to them as potential friends as opposed to your guards." Lee explained as they walked. 

"How long have you been holding that lecture in?" Gaara asked and Lee smiled wryly.

"I just want you to have a good time! Shikamaru and Ino are very nice. You will like them, I am sure." Lee said and they approached their house. "You can do this." Gaara wasn't sure if Lee was talking to him or himself. Lee kissed Gaara's cheek and Gaara smiled and opened the door. Ino, Shikamaru and Kankuro were all sitting on the floor of the living room talking and they looked up.

"Hey, little bro! This is Ino and Shikamaru." Gaara nodded slowly and grabbed the strap of his gourd and placed it down. Lee started to rub his shoulders.

"It is nice to meet you." Gaara said slowly, testing the words in his mouth.

"It's an honor!" Ino said, jumping up and bowing her head. Shikamaru followed suit. Gaara scowled at it but thanked them nonetheless. "I brought you something." Ino said and rushed to her bag. Gaara watched her curiously and walked deeper into the living room. She pulled out a pot with budding flowers. "It's a hibiscus plant. They like the heat, they're pretty and they're great for tea!" Gaara took the plant in his hands and stared down at it curiously. 

"Come." He said to her and walked down the hallway. She looked confused at Lee and Lee nodded his head. She followed him to a back room. He opened the door and she was amazed with the amount of plants he had everywhere.

"It's beautiful." Ino said with a grin. She loved plants. She was amazed to see that Gaara did too. Ino wasn't sure why she was so frightened of him. He didn't seem so scary anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) How should Itachi tell Kisame about the baby? (Or should Kisame find the pictures? Although I'm not sure he would really understand what they are...)  
> 2) How is the reluctant Naruto feeling for you?  
> 3) I got some votes for this already, but cast your vote! Who is Kakashi's mate??? (I always put him with Guy but I'll leave it up to you guys for this story!)  
> 4) Should I have Ino and Kankuro together?
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please answer these questions as I really need help this time!


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Suna bonding.  
> Kisame finds out about the baby  
> Team 7 gets a mission  
> We discover Kakashi's mate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there were so many different ships I didn't even know where to go from that so that's how we have this chapter! lmao #sorrynotsorry  
>  **The_BookDragon** : At least I managed to get you 10 bucks, huh?  
>  **isis2iris** : I'm happy you really like the story!  
>  **Desbelleschoses** : Thank you~!   
> **Bumblebees_Girl** : yeah ofc. Just for you, dear. lol. And as for Kakashi's mate... heheheh.  
>  **YoKoChi150** : Mierda, me olvidé de Genma en este capítulo. ¡Lo siento!  
>  **MirSama** : Thank you for your vote!  
>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglushMajor** : I didn't hide it very well. My hints aren't really hints as much as they are THIS IS A THING. Yeah, Sasuke will have to work for Nart's affection. Thanks for your vote!   
> Haaku: I don't like how they describe omegas! The characters are still themselves, it doesn't matter if they're an omega or not! I try to keep them true to themselves. And... man. I love that. So much. Thank you for that. Perfect. Beautiful. Inspirational.  
>  **Best_Kind_of_Insanity** : Lol you wished it so shall it be. I love making Sasuke sweat about it. He's so spoiled so it's fun to write him not get what he wants once. Thank you for your vote!

Chapter Twenty-one:

If there was one thing Shikamaru would guess would happen while they were here, even with all the strange things that happened, Ino and Gaara bonding over plants and becoming friends was not one of them. In fact, it shocked him so much he was rendered completely speechless. 

Him and Temari enjoyed each other's company to the point where everyone said they were going to get together. Yes. This was an interesting development. Kankuro seemed to have a crush on Ino (although he wouldn't admit it and would turn red if anyone even mentioned it). Also interesting. Shikamaru got to see Gaara and Lee kick the shit out of each other every day when they were training. Unheard of for an alpha and omega to fight. Especially like that. Didn't Lee's alpha sense come over him to prevent him from attacking his mate? Apparently not. And Gaara's sand didn't even try to protect him!

Still, walking into the kitchen to see Ino and Gaara having an honest conversation with Ino giggling and joking with the Kazekage, well that was just... incredible. 

"Good morning, Shikamaru!" Ino said with a grin. Shikamaru must've looked amazed because Ino winked at him. 

"Good morning." Gaara said, glancing over at Shikamaru but any hint of humor on his face wasn't there anymore. Shikamaru supposed he didn't unlock that level of friendship yet.

"Morning. What are you guys doing awake so early?" Honestly, when did Ino wake up before 7am?

"I didn't go to sleep." Gaara said calmly.

"I woke up when Lee fell down the stairs on his way out for his morning run." Ino said with a laugh. "I couldn't go back to sleep after laughing that hard so Gaara and I went for a walk and now we're having tea. Would you like some?"

"What's the tea?" Shikamaru asked and for whatever reason that made Ino giggle and Shikamaru could see mirth in Gaara's eyes.

"Green tea." Gaara responded because Ino kept laughing. Shikamaru wasn't even sure he wanted to know. He sat at the table and Ino poured him a cup and handed it to him.

Kankuro walked in and was surprised to see everyone up. Ino loved when Kankuro woke up in the morning. He didn't have his face paint or anything on. His messy brown hair stuck up in every direction. He was super cute. The first time she saw him she asked who he was and he fell over laughing.

"Good morning Kuro." Ino said, smiling and he smiled back and looked a bit shy. Gaara and Shikamaru shared a smirk and Shikamaru suddenly felt closer to Gaara than he had this entire time. All because they shared a look about Kankuro.

"GOOD MORNING MY FRIENDS!" Lee yelled as he walked in the door. Ino jumped, Shikamaru was startled but didn't show it, Gaara winced, and Kankuro smacked Lee over the head out of reflex for Lee scaring him. "Ow... Gaara, your brother hit me."

"I would too if I was close enough." Gaara mumbled and Lee grinned at him and ran over to the table and wrapped his arms around Gaara's torso and pulled him up into a hug.

"Oh Gaara! I missed you when I was on my run this morning! You should come with me one day!" Gaara looked at him and blinked. 

"Lee, no offense, but I would rather die." Gaara said and Lee put him down so Gaara was standing on his own but kept his arms around Gaara's hips.

"But... why?"

"Lee, no one wants to wake up at 4 in the morning to run around the village." Ino said and Lee blinked.

"But... why?"

"Because no one is as insane as you are." Kankuro said flatly. 

"That is not a fair assessment! Gaara does not need to wake up because usually he is not sleeping!"

"I would just rather not run with you." Gaara said and Lee got a hurt expression on his face and Gaara sighed. "Nothing against you, you're just too fast."

"You can be too if you-"

"No." Lee frowned and wanted to say something, but Gaara kissed his cheek and suddenly he was putty in Gaara's hands.

When Shikamaru first heard that Gaara and Lee were mates at the chunin exams, he thought 'no way would that actually work out' especially since they were such opposites. He didn't want to admit that not only did they work but they were perfect. They complimented each other beautifully. And the fact that someone as dangerous as Gaara could have a soft side was interesting to see.

Ino loved when Gaara manipulated Lee. She thought it was hysterical. She noticed it the first day she arrived. In all accounts, Gaara was the alpha and Lee was the omega. That was just obvious. But there were times when they became their intended self and when Gaara pulled the hopeless omega act, Lee was suddenly down for whatever Gaara wanted. It was fantastic to watch. When Ino first saw Lee, she didn't think there would be an occasion in which he was cute. But sometimes when she caught the way Gaara stared at him when no one else was watching, she found herself admiring Lee through his eyes.

It was all very romantic.

And if she ever mentioned it to Gaara, she would likely die.

"Stop being all cute together, some of us are nauseated." Kankuro said with a huff, but there was no malice behind it.

"You could always get a mate yourself, then you wouldn't be jealous." Gaara said simply and sat back in his chair across from Ino. Lee sat down next to him and Gaara glanced at Kankuro until Kankuro sat down at the head of the table which was in-between Gaara and Ino.

"Yeah. Okay." Kankuro scoffed. Gaara raised a brow.

"Are you just saying that because you're scared to ask Ino out?" He asked curiously. Like he honestly was concerned. Shikamaru laughed loudly at Kankuro's face and Kankuro wished he had his face paint on to at least hide some of his embarrassment. 

"Gaara you suck." Was all Kankuro said.

"Morning everyone." Temari said as she walked in and sat at the other head of the table between Lee and Shikamaru. "What's going on?"

"Gaara has pointed out that Kankuro has that obvious crush on Ino." Lee informed and Kankuro's face got even more red, which no one thought was possible. The amazing thing was that he didn't deny it. Ino looked at him curiously. He wasn't really acting like an alpha right now. Usually alphas took what they wanted. If it was true that Kankuro had a crush on her, by all means he should've asked her out already.

"I think the more tragic thing is he didn't even ask me out." Ino said with an exaggerated sigh. Kankuro stared at her for a minute and now everyone was looking at him expectantly.

"No." He said and pointed to everyone. "I am not asking her out in front of all of you. You are all terrible people."

"I never said I wasn't." Gaara said simply as he sipped on his tea. Ino grinned at him.

"But are we all going to just IGNORE the fact that Shikamaru is totally eye-fucking my sister?" Kankuro said and Shikamaru put his arms up defensively.

"Dude." He said. "I didn't even out you. Why are you singling me out?"

"Because you're the only one I can single out. What am I going to say? Gaara likes Lee? You're the only person left."

"Aw, Gaara. You like me?" Lee said with a cheesy grin and Gaara stopped sipping his tea and looked at Lee confused.

"We're mated."

"Yeah... but still." Gaara rolled his eyes.

"I have to go." Gaara said and stood up. "Are you coming, Temari?"

"Yeah, let's go. Bye everyone." Temari smirked at Shikamaru and he sighed.

"What a drag..."

"Wait for me, Gaara!" Lee got up from his chair and left with his mate. Shikamaru realized it was just him, Ino and Kankuro.

"Well, I have to go..." Shikamaru stood up and left.

"You're interesting." Ino commented and Kankuro looked at her curiously. "Aren't you an alpha?"

"Yes?"

"You don't act like one."

"Uh, neither does Lee." That was a fair statement. "What makes you say I don't act like an alpha?"

"Most alphas would've asked me out already. That is, if you like me as much as they say you do." Ino teased and Kankuro scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, yeah... I guess I'm just nervous."

"If you're too nervous, I'll just go back to bed." Ino said and stood up from the table. She was exhausted. She's been up since 3:55am and it was 7:08 right now.

"Ino will you go on a date with me?" Kankuro asked quickly and she smiled at him.

"That would be lovely." She said and ruffled his hair as she walked passed him and went to her room. She really was tired.

***

"Hey, Kakashi." Kakashi glanced up from his book.

"Oh, hello Guy." Kakashi went back to reading his book.

"I wanted to challenge you to one of our most youthful hot-blooded challenges!" Guy announced and Kakashi shook his head.

"No thanks. I have to see my mate." Kakashi said and continued to walk. Guy looked visibly deflated.

"Tell him I say hello." Guy said in a much softer tone. Kakashi put his thumb up, not looking and continued walking.

***

Kisame was worried. Not only had Itachi been absent a lot, but Kisame knew it was because he was sleeping. All Itachi did was sleep unless he had a mission which was rare. And Kisame was getting increasingly frustrated dealing with Deidara and Sasori arguing over art. Sometimes he would prefer Hidan- actually that's a dirty lie, he never preferred Hidan. With a fleeting thankful thought that Itachi was his partner and not Hidan, Kisame set out to find Itachi. He was most likely in his bedroom. Asleep.

Kisame knocked on the door lightly and heard weird noises so opened the door.

"Itachi are you..." He paused. Itachi was leaning off the bed vomiting in a bucket. Kisame was at his side instantly and rubbed his back. "Are you okay??" The worry in his voice was obvious and Itachi honestly wanted to cry. He was so sick of throwing up water. He couldn't keep anything down. He was shaking and pale and his face was sunken with how much weight he lost from just being sick for weeks.

"Kisame." Itachi said tiredly and leaned his head on Kisame's shoulder. It was a nice feeling. He'd been so cold and Kisame was warm.

"What can I get for you?" Kisame asked and Itachi frowned.

"I really want steak." Kisame blinked, he could've sworn that was Itachi's least favorite food.

"Are you sure that's wise with your stomach messed up like that?" Kisame asked and Itachi just stared up at him. "Alright, I'll go get you some steak. Do you want anything else?"

"... Ginger ale and an orange." Well, that was all a strange combination. Kisame nodded. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Relax, I'll be back soon." Kisame stood up and glanced at Itachi one last time before he left the room. It was becoming more worrisome and Kisame didn't like how sick Itachi was. He wondered if he should talk to Pein or not.

Itachi stared at the door that Kisame left from and just felt anguish. He just wanted to curl up next to someone and it was a frustrating feeling. Itachi was feeling things he wasn't even sure what they were but he knew it was the pregnant omega part of him. He just wanted comfort. He wanted more blankets and pillows and he wanted to sleep but he also wanted to vomit no matter what. He rarely left the room because of his smell aversions. Usually they were food things but Itachi walked by Deidara when Deidara was playing with some clay and just the smell of the clay had Itachi run to the bathroom to vomit. Thankfully, Deidara wasn't paying attention at the time because Itachi wouldn't put it past him to smear clay throughout his room.

Finally able to find a comfortable position with minimal feelings of nausea, Itachi fell asleep until Kisame showed up with his food.

"Itachi." Kisame whispered. "Itachi I'm back." Itachi woke up slowly and glanced up at Kisame. Kisame held up a plastic bag. "I got you food." It smelled delicious. Itachi sat up with some difficulty so Kisame helped him up.

"Thank you Kisame." Itachi said quietly. Kisame then saw Itachi pour the ginger ale into a cup and peel his orange and put several slices of orange in the ginger ale and left it to sit. Interesting. 

Itachi got halfway through the steak when suddenly his body didn't like the smell of it anymore.

"Kisame please get this away from me." Itachi said and handed it to Kisame. He looked confused. "Now." Kisame jumped up and left the room. Jesus, what was wrong with him?

When Kisame came back to the room, Itachi was eating his ginger ale soaked orange slices and he looked upset.

"Itachi, what's wrong?" Kisame asked. He couldn't take this anymore. Itachi was just acting so weird. If he was sick, he needed to see someone. "Should we go to the doctor? You aren't acting like yourself." Itachi looked up at Kisame as he chewed on his orange and just stared. "You're really weirding me out." Itachi had a funny look on his face and suddenly he threw up his ginger ale. Thankfully, the steak was heavy enough that it didn't come up but he threw up all over a pile of clothes instead of the garbage bin. "Itachi..." Kisame closed his eyes and sighed. He grabbed the clothes, careful to not touch anything to get the smell away from Itachi who now looked completely heartbroken. 

While Kisame was walking to the laundry room, he felt something stiff in one of the pockets. When he got to the laundry room, he dumped everything in a pile save the pants and dug through the pockets. He unfolded the paper and looked at it. He had no idea what it was but it reminded him of a sonar image. Why would Itachi have that in his pocket? What was it? A peanut? Kisame frowned at the picture and walked back to Itachi's room.

"Hey, Itachi." Kisame said and Itachi looked up from the bed looking positively green. "What is this?"

"A baby." Itachi blurt out and Kisame blinked.

"Uh... Why do you have a sonar picture of a baby?" Itachi wanted to say so many things to that. Mostly, how dumb was Kisame?

"Kisame, I want you to think about that question." Itachi said flatly and Kisame frowned.

"You were on a boat, used a sonar machine, and found a baby?" Itachi stared at Kisame for a while. There was no way he was that stupid. "It explains why you've been so nauseated. A dead baby in the ocean-"

"Kisame, I'm pregnant you moron." Itachi snapped which was completely unlike him and Kisame stilled. 

"But... the doctor said it was near impossible..." Kisame mumbled and pushed his eyebrows together, slowly realizing all the stupid hints through the weeks that he hadn't noticed and felt incredibly dumb. Itachi might as well have been wearing a sign that said "I AM PREGNANT" with all of the symptoms. 

Kisame had to sit down. He sat on the floor next to Itachi's bed and ran his fingers through his hair, thinking hard. 

"So... You're... having a baby?" He looked at Itachi and Itachi frowned and sighed.

"I don't know if I'm keeping it." Kisame nodded slowly and stood up, leaving the room. "Where are you going?"

"I have to go kill something, I'll be right back."

***

"Oh I'm sorry." Kakashi apologized and looked up. "Oh, hey Tenzo. I didn't see you there." 

"Oh, Kakashi-senpai. How are you?" Tenzo asked, turning to give Kakashi his full attention.

"Alright I suppose. Just going to see my mate. How are you doing?" Tenzo shrugged.

"Haven't been on a mission lately for some reason. I'm getting a bit stir crazy." Kakashi agreed. The one thing about how peaceful it was lately is there wasn't anything to do. "Well, I won't keep you. Tell him I said hi." Tenzo waved and walked off. Kakashi continued walking.

***

"Hey." Sakura said, looking at Sasuke. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, it's you." Sasuke sighed and Sakura frowned, hurt at the statement. "Yeah. I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Naruto. We have a mission ordered from the Hokage." She explained and Sasuke scowled. Why did Naruto have a mission and he didn't?

"I don't know where he is right now. Probably training." Sasuke said and stood up. He had to talk to the Hokage.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked and Sasuke ran off. She sighed. Sasuke was just so weird lately it was like he wasn't even the same person.

What if he wasn't Sasuke? What if he was a fake Sasuke? Sakura panicked and rushed to find Naruto. He would know for sure. Sasuke seemed to stick by Naruto's side all the time. Maybe this was an Akatsuki plan. To pretend to be Sasuke to get Naruto's tailed beast! 

It took her 15 minutes to find Naruto. He was on the training grounds, like Sasuke said, but he wasn't training. He looked to be stretching, eating and reading a scroll which was weird but whatever.

"Naruto!" Sakura called and he looked up at her and waved.

"Oh, hey Sakura. What's up?" She made her way to where he sat.

"Sasuke is acting funny and I think I know why." Naruto started to sweat a bit.

"Oh really?" Naruto's voice was nervous, but Sakura didn't pay attention to it.

"Yeah. I think maybe it's an imposter." She whispered and Naruto wanted to laugh. Yeah, he wished it was an imposter. No, he was just a really territorial alpha. Naruto had to continuously kick him out of the training grounds because Sasuke would get distressed to see Naruto bloody up his knuckles while he was practicing punching. It was obnoxious.

"No offense, Sakura. But that's stupid." Sakura scowled at him.

"Oh yeah? Then what do you suppose the reason is?" She asked and Naruto blinked. Should he tell her? He didn't think she would take the news very well. 

"He's an alpha now. He's weird." Naruto decided to say. Sakura frowned at the answer but decided to just tell Naruto they had a mission.

"Anyway, I ran into Sasuke and I mentioned to him that you and I are being sent on a mission-"

"Oh fuck." Naruto rubbed his face. "Why would you tell Sasuke that?"

"...Because? Why wouldn't I?" Naruto groaned. Well, it was nice knowing the Hokage and Sakura while they lived. 

"Naruto!" Naruto glanced up and saw Sasuke. The glare he sent Sakura briefly didn't go undetected. 

"What?"

"I'll be going on the mission with you two." He said and Naruto's head leaned back and he sighed.

"You just had to get this started." Naruto muttered to Sakura and rolled up the scroll, stood up and stuffed it into his back pocket. "Alright, I guess Team 7 is back. Think Kakashi-sensei will come with us?"

***

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi glanced up and saw his team. It was nice to see them alive and well. "Sensei, we're going on a mission, are you coming too?"

"A mission?" Kakashi's shoulders sagged. He wanted to go on a mission but no. "I'm not, actually. It'll be good for you three to go though."

"Aw man." Naruto pouted. "Hey, where ya going?" He asked and Kakashi smiled.

"Just going to see my mate. You kids run along now." He waved at them and Sakura rolled her eyes but they left. Kakashi glanced up at the flower shop. It would be different now that Ino was in Suna but he needed to pick up flowers anyway.

"Hello Kakashi." Ino's mother greeted him. "Would you like what you normally get?" Kakashi nodded.

A bouquet of white lilies and white carnations with a single dark red rose in the center.

"Thank you very much." Kakashi paid and left and continued to walk.

***

Getting home that night was a nightmare. Gaara was frustrated with how the day went. How could such a peaceful time in the village become such a hassle? 

He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration and really hoped that Lee would stop trying to baby him. It was getting aggravating. 

When they got home, Gaara headed straight for the kitchen to make himself some tea. He just wanted to be left alone. He got chamomile to hopefully ease his tension and sat down at the table. Lee had enough sense to leave him alone. Gaara appreciated that Lee knew when to stop talking. 

Being an extreme introvert like Gaara, sometimes he just needed to be left alone. Today there were just so many people around him, it was distressing.

After a while his nerves began to calm down and Ino and Shikamaru walked inside from being outside. They nodded at him but Gaara continued to ignore them. Shikamaru knew what that meant and quickly made himself scarce but Ino didn't give up so easily. She walked into the kitchen and stood next to Gaara. He looked up at her and she nudged her head and he knew she wanted him to follow but she didn't talk so for that he was grateful. He followed her upstairs and into the room with his plants. 

Neither of them talked. They stood in the darkness of the room with the only light being the moon's glow pouring in through the window giving the plants a white glow. It was peaceful. Gaara wondered how Ino knew exactly how to calm him down. He supposed this is how she calmed down too. She looked at peace. He offered her his cup of tea and she took it and sipped it. 

Everything was calm.

***

"Kakashi, I just saw your team leave. You're not going with them?" Iruka asked and Kakashi looked up at the brunet and smiled under his mask.

"Nah, I wasn't included in the mission. It's fine, they're more than capable." Kakashi said, feeling a twinge of pride at his team.

"Glad to hear it." Iruka noticed the flowers. "Visiting your mate?" He asked and Kakashi nodded. "Well I won't keep you. Should be dark soon. Nice seeing you." Kakashi waved and continued on.

***

Itachi was dressed and ready to go. The village that his doctor appointment was at wasn't too far. Only an hour walk or so. He needed to get there soon. He was feeling like shit.

He left the hideout and walked through the dirt path, feeling more relaxed outside than he had inside. The only problem was that he had to walk for an hour and he was feeling way too exhausted to do that. It was something he had to do. He made sure to bring money so he could stay somewhere in the village in case he wasn't feeling well enough to leave.

The crunch of the dirt felt nice under his feet and the sounds the animals made calmed him. He wished he could just sleep out here but he was alone and sleeping alone being a wanted rogue ninja likely wasn't very smart.

Itachi knew he couldn't get to the village in an hour at the pace he was at. He would have to be running to make it there in time but he couldn't get the energy up for it. He put his hand on his abdomen with a sigh.

"You're making this very difficult for me, you know." Itachi said quietly and nothing happened in response. He didn't know why that made him feel so lonely.

Halfway through his trip, he sensed a strong chakra. He paused and really felt out for it and scowled. Kisame knew to hide his chakra, so why wasn't he doing it now?

"Itachi!" Kisame's face was red from exertion. "There you are." Itachi frowned.

"I thought you were killing things." Itachi said and Kisame shrugged and fell into a synchronized step pattern with his partner.

"I can only kill so many things. At least my sword is satiated, isn't that right Samehada?" Kisame said fondly with a vicious grin. "Anyway, I felt your chakra so I came to find you. I was surprised you left your room.

"Yeah, I have a doctor appointment." Itachi said coolly and Kisame frowned.

"For the... baby?" Itachi nodded slowly. "I would like to come with you, if you don't mind." Itachi looked up at Kisame curiously but shrugged.

"If that's really what you want to do." Kisame nodded slowly.

"I mean, it is my kid..." Kisame said surprisingly softly. "Right?" Itachi glanced at Kisame with a funny look.

"I don't recall anyone else in the room while I was in heat. Care to enlighten me?" Kisame flushed and laughed awkwardly.

"I guess that was a dumb question..." He trailed off and they both walked in silence.

***

Kakashi sat down, placing the flowers on the ground with a smile. He pulled down his mask and smiled.

"Hope you didn't miss me too bad. I got you flowers. Sorry it took so long. I won't let it happen again. Now, where were we?" Kakashi pulled out a book, unlike the smut he usually read. It was his mate's favorite kind of book. A mystery. "We were going to find out who was behind the orange mask."

Kakashi began reading the book out loud while kneeling before Obito's grave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF. IT WAS SUCH A GOOD PLOT TWIST.   
> Hear me out, how fucked will the rest of the story with Tobi and Madara be if Kakashi and Obito are mates??  
> But still, Kakashi may get another mate, if you guys want. The two most popular votes were Iruka and Tenzo! 
> 
> 1) Should Kakashi get another mate since Obito is "Dead"?  
> 2) If so, Iruka or Tenzo?  
> 3) How do you think Kisame will do at the doctor's office?  
> 4) It's kind of hard writing the Ino/Gaara friend dynamic since they're different characters here. Does it work or does it seem too much like Mama or YBMC?


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kisame and Itachi go to the doctor  
> Team 7 talks  
> Gaara's plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Desbelleschoses** : That's what I'm best at, tbh. Sorry. Haha love you <3 but this chapter is a bit less angst and a bit more... well, you'll find out.  
>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : Yes our poor baby Kakashi. And Kisame was fun to write lol. I would love an awkward love declaration. That would be life. I don't remember who I heard the "what's the tea" from the first time but I remember being super confused about it too. lol  
>  **Ona** : Thank you!! I wanted to have this chapter done yesterday but I got side tracked :(   
> **The_BookDragon** : I am a terrible person, what can I say? lol  
>  **Bumblebees_Girl** : Yeah I don't know what to do anymore. Kisame does love his child already. <3 Gaara does need some calming in his life lol  
>  **MirSama** : You're right about that. We'll figure out what we do with Itachi and Kisame later on. I'm not entirely sure if they can just go back to their villages. Maybe something different happens that they get out of the akatsuki but not that? I'm unsure.  
>  **Lollipopgang71** : Bitch, why am i even responding. I'm already talking to you on messenger. Girl, bye.  
>  **animefanxlove** : You just gave me and lollipopgang a shit ton to talk about so thanks for that. You're fantastic, that was a beautiful comment. I had intended for them to find out they were true mates but not bond so it technically isn't his mate, but his intended. You and I will have to talk more on this storyline you've developed so I could talk to you about my own plan to see where they can overlap because I absolutely love this. Thank you for all the thought you put into it.

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Once they got to the village outskirts, Kisame and Itachi removed their robes again and stashed them away, transforming themselves into their incognito forms and headed for the gate. It was easy enough to get in the village and after that it was just a matter of finding the doctor's office. Which was pretty hard considering Itachi couldn't remember where it was for the life of him.

This led them to be 17 minutes late to the appointment. Itachi was feeling terrible but mainly it was just his legs from lack of use the past few weeks. When they sat down in the waiting room, Itachi wanted to cry upon realizing that he forgot to sign in. His legs were killing him. Kisame leaned in.

"What's your name?" He whispered.

"Fugaku Haruno." He answered and Kisame got up to sign him in and then sat back down. Itachi thanked him and let his head rest on Kisame's shoulder. He was so exhausted, he didn't want to go back. He didn't want to walk.

"Mr. Haruno." Itachi nearly pouted and stood up and Kisame glanced at him not knowing if he should join. Itachi nodded his head and Kisame stood up and followed. 

Itachi had to give another urine sample, which he was confused about, so Kisame waited for him in the examination room. After he left the sample, he made his way to the room and was suddenly extremely nervous. Wasn't he supposed to have made a decision by now? He didn't have a decision. Worry set deep in the pit of his stomach and he entered the examination room. 

Kisame was already there fidgeting on the chair and Itachi sat on the bed and looked at his feet.

"So... what are they doing?" Kisame asked and Itachi shrugged.

"Checking my urine. Then probably talking to me about if I want the baby or not." Itachi said and Kisame nodded slowly.

The doctor came in and Itachi was surprised that it wasn't the nurse first.

"Mr. Haruno, it's good to see you've made it. Have you thought about your decision?" He asked and Kisame was surprised to see Itachi's cheeks turn red. "I'll take that as a no." The doctor turned to see Kisame. "Oh, hello. Are you the mate?" Before Kisame could say anything, Itachi said 'yes' and Kisame looked at Itachi surprised when the doctor turned away from him. "Okay well, let's get an ultrasound done to see how you're developing to get a feel of how far along you are. Before it was very early, hard to get a read on the heartbeat, now we'll even be able to see if you're having more than one or not." Jesus, more than one? Itachi wasn't even sure he wanted one.

Itachi laid down on the bed and pulled his shirt up and pushed his pants down a bit. The doctor used that slimy gel again and Itachi saw Kisame stand up to walk closer to the machine to look at it in interest.

The doctor was pressing on Itachi's abdomen, this time it wasn't as hard as before since the baby was a bit bigger, but it was still uncomfortable. He pointed at the screen.

"There she is. There's just one." The doctor said and Itachi honestly felt relief. He knew it wasn't uncommon for a litter of pups so was thankful that there was only one that he had to worry about. "And let's hear that heartbeat..." Kisame watched the screen with his eyebrows pushed together in concentration.

Suddenly the room was filled with the sound of a heartbeat.

"Heartrate is looking good. Very healthy."

That's when it really dawned on Kisame that Itachi was pregnant. He looked even more at the screen to get a glimpse of the strange image. The closest he ever had to a child. Honestly, he never thought he would have children. The thought that he may weighed heavily on his heart. He didn't think he would feel like this, but hearting the heartbeat just made it real. He looked at Itachi and Itachi was staring at the doctor with a look of thought. 

"I'll let you get cleaned up..." The doctor pulled the transducer away and the heartbeat stopped and Kisame felt a pang of loss. "I'll be back in about 10 minutes. You two have a lot to discuss." He said and handed Itachi a towel and left the room.

Kisame and Itachi stayed quiet. Kisame didn't realize at some point he started holding Itachi's hand until Itachi squeezed his hand in retaliation for damn near completely blocking off the blood flow to his hand. Kisame let go quickly and gave Itachi an apologetic look.

"Are you ok?" Itachi asked and Kisame wanted to laugh at that. The fact that Itachi was asking HIM that instead of the other way around was just ironic.

"Yeah. You?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure what to do." Itachi admitted and sighed. He placed his hand where he knew the doctor was able to find the growing child in his abdomen and held it there. That was as close as he got to touching her. Kisame was staring intently at the spot Itachi's hand was in and Itachi reached over to grab Kisame's hand and he placed it on his stomach and put his own hand above it. "What are your thoughts?" Kisame's fingers curled slightly, gripping onto Itachi's stomach.

"I never thought about having kids before." He admitted. "It's new... I don't not like it."

"If I kept the baby, would you... want it?" Itachi asked slowly and Kisame was still for a moment. It was really a life changing decision. What would they do with the organization? Where would they stay? He could hardly picture Kakazu and Hidan being reliable babysitters. Despite that, there was only one answer on the tip of his tongue.

"Yes." He whispered and him and Itachi shared a look. 

What were the odds of this? Of him having a child with Itachi of all people? It was strange. Kisame always looked up to Itachi (Despite being significantly taller than him). Itachi was stronger, smarter, and he was also younger. 

There was also the disease that Itachi had. He didn't have time to grow a baby, did he? Could he? Kisame wasn't sure. What if having the baby would kill him sooner? Kisame just didn't like all of the possibilities that this could go so wrong. He liked Itachi. A lot. He admired him more than anyone. The fact that Itachi was considering keeping this child even though Kisame knew how much his body probably couldn't take it, just made Kisame see how much Itachi actually cared.

When him and Itachi first met, they were reluctant to each other at best but they developed a friendship. Kisame cared for Itachi deeply. He wasn't sure he would be okay with Itachi getting hurt. Kisame loved hurting others but the thought of Itachi hurting made him physically ill.

"Kisame?" Itachi spoke, breaking him out of his thoughts. 

"Yes, Itachi?"

"I... I killed my whole clan..." He started and Itachi knew exactly where he was going with this.

"You want to keep the baby." Kisame answered and Itachi nodded his head slowly. "Okay."

"Okay?" Kisame gave Itachi a grin.

"Yeah, I'm sure we can get Deidara and Sasori to babysit." He joked and Itachi frowned.

"Deidara hates me, I can't imagine what he would do to my child." Kisame frowned.

"Absolutely nothing because I would demolish him." Itachi let himself smirk at Kisame. "Let's hope though this baby takes after you." Itachi actually chuckled at the thought. He pictured himself with Kisame's eyes. Jesus, he hoped this child wouldn't have Kisame's eyes. "You ok?"

"I'm fine." Itachi said, still laughing a bit. "Just pictured a small version of me with your eyes." He said and Kisame laughed.

"Oh man, Hidan would sacrifice that child to Jashin." Kisame said and Itachi shook his head with a slight smirk on his face. Kisame had such a strange sense of humor.

***

"Gaara!" Lee said, surprised. He thought he smelled his omega. "What are you doing here?" Gaara was usually in his office at this time and it was the time Lee took out of his day to go through his training regimen. 

"I just wanted to see you." Lee perked up significantly after hearing that.

"I am very happy to hear you say that!" Lee said and wiped sweat off of his forehead.

"Don't make yourself pass out again. You can't train as hard here during the day as you can in your own village. It's too hot. Take care of yourself." Gaara scolded and Lee smiled sheepishly and walked over to his mate.

"Gaara, I apologize. You know I would not want to worry you like that again." Gaara nodded slowly and Lee gave him a hug and Gaara scowled at the feel of Lee's clothes. They were completely soaked in sweat, it was disgusting. 

"Lee I need to ask a favor of you." Gaara sighed and Lee frowned. 

"You know I would do anything for you."

"I know, which is why I feel terrible for asking you. It isn't easy and I don't want you to go but there isn't a way around it."

"What is it?"

"I need you to fill in for an ANBU member. It's a serious mission. I don't want you to do it but I don't have anyone else with high enough clearance and trust for me to appoint a new ANBU member. This is just for one mission. Can you do it?" Lee nodded. "Lee, this is an assassination mission. You'll be with one other member, I'm not sure if you'll be the one making the assassination, but you need to be okay with that."

"Gaara, I will do anything you need me to do." Gaara nodded. "When do I leave?"

"In two days. I need to figure other things out first." Gaara said and looked at the sand under them.

"I can do it. Do not worry about it, I promise I will be fine." Lee insisted and Gaara sighed.

"The ANBU isn't a place for you, Lee. You're too... good." He said and left leaving Lee alone and confused.

***

"Hey, did you guys know Kakashi-sensei had a mate before yesterday?" Sakura asked after they all set up their camp.

"He mentioned it." Sasuke said with a frown. "Why?"

"I never met his mate. I thought that was weird. Usually the Jounin's genin team meets their mate, right?"

"Well Kakashi-sensei is more secretive that most." Naruto said simply. 

"But he's an alpha so shouldn't he be... like... what's the word... proud?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that statement.

"What does that mean?"

"Just that alphas are usually proud of their mates, right?" Sakura asked and Sasuke wanted to laugh. No way was he proud of Naruto!

Okay, maybe.

"What are you getting at?" Jesus, Naruto was dense.

"Alphas parade their mates around all the time to be like 'this is my mate don't touch' and I've never seen Kakashi even with another person that looked romantic."

"Maybe his mate is an alpha?" Naruto suggested with a shrug. Sasuke shivered with a scowl. It's been done, there have been alpha/alpha matings but to Sasuke that sounded awful. It irritated him to be around other alphas, he couldn't imagine being mated to one. And smelling him every day. Gross.

"I don't know. I just think it's weird we don't know."

"Sakura, there's a lot we don't know about Kakashi-sensei." Sasuke argued. "His mate is hardly something we can be angry about not knowing. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get some fish or something." Sasuke stood up and left.

"So he's your alpha, right?" Sakura asked and Naruto tensed instantly.

"W-what? What makes you say that? Sakura that's dumb. That's just stupid, I just- whaaat?" Sakura stared at him with a frown and his shoulders sagged and he leaned against the tree behind him. "What makes you say that?"

"Because he is." She said flatly. "And because if I look at you too long he looks like he'll eat me." 

"He really needs to tone down the jealousy..." Naruto said with a sigh and a shake of his head. "Sorry, I know you had your heart set on him."

"It's more than that." Sakura said and eyed Naruto. "You two are true mates, aren't you?" Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah I guess." Naruto mumbled.

"You're an omega." She said and Naruto froze and looked at her wide-eyed. "I've known for a while, Naruto. Sasuke just proves it."

"How the hell does that asshole prove anything?" Naruto asked with a scowl. He then felt bad for calling his mate an asshole, then felt angry for thinking of Sasuke as his mate and his scowl deepened.

"Alphas don't get as protective over betas and especially other alphas. You may act like you aren't an omega. You can try to take blockers all you want, I can tell you do by your chakra. But honestly it's Sasuke that outs you by how viciously protective he is of you." Naruto grumbled.

"Wait, how do you know from my chakra?" Naruto asked, suddenly nervous others could tell too.

"Don't worry. The only people that would know are the people who know enough about your chakra to see the differences. I can tell you're on blockers because I know what your signature chakra feels like. Especially now that I study medical. The only other people besides me that could find out are people from the Hyuuga clan." Naruto winced at the thought. Now he was worried about someone from the clan outing him. He'd have to stay away from them at all costs. Sorry Hinata. "I'm surprised though."

"About?"

"Sasuke is letting you go on missions." Naruto scowled.

"Like he could stop me." Sakura looked at Naruto in thought. Maybe it was best that she wasn't Sasuke's mate. She didn't think she could handle his protectiveness but she also wasn't so sure she could argue against him as much as Naruto would be able to.

"Has he tried?"

"He's said some shit but I don't think he's going to try. He knows how much that'll piss me off. I hate that he treats me like a baby. I'm strong, believe it. I just..." Naruto pouted and stopped talking. He was too irritated. Sakura let him have a moment.

Sasuke came back a few minutes later and was holding several fish and looked at Naruto proudly as if saying 'look what I caught you' and Naruto took one look at him and started to laugh.

"Nice going, Sasuke." Sakura said, impressed. "You weren't even gone for 15 minutes." He put the fish down and Sakura began to prepare them. Naruto watched with curiosity. He usually ate ramen so he really didn't know what to do with a fish to get it ready to cook and eat. 

Sasuke and Naruto sat on both sides of Sakura and watched her prepare the fish and for the first time in a while, they felt like a team more than ever. And Sakura was happy.

***

"Is it just me, or is Gaara acting super weird?" Ino asked, sitting at the table with Kankuro and Shikamaru.

"I noticed that too. He won't say why. I think Temari knows. She won't budge either." Kankuro said and Ino frowned. Gaara was acting really weird and now Lee is packing to go on a mission. It was all so strange. If Lee was going on a mission, why wouldn't anyone just say it? What's the big deal?

"I think I know." Shikamaru said and cleaned his ear with his pinky. 

"Care to share with the class?" Kankuro asked dryly and Shikamaru sighed and crossed his arms. 

"There's very few things that would keep them tight lipped, especially Lee. If anything, he's the easiest to crack and he hasn't said anything. I think he's being sent on an ANBU mission."

"How are you able to deduce that?" Ino asked with a blink. It didn't make sense. Why would Lee of all people get sent on such a dangerous mission?

"Well, think about it. No one but people with high enough clearance; aka the Kazekage and the advisor, know the identities of the ANBU members. It's too dangerous for everyone to know. This means ANBU missions are secretive and no one is allowed to know about them unless they're the Kazekage, the Administer or the ANBU member themselves. I haven't yet worked out why Lee is going on such an intense mission or what the mission entails." That caused Ino to glance in the direction she knew Gaara to be in. What was he doing? What was going on?

***

"You know what you have to do." Gaara said with a frown. The ANBU member in front of him bowed her head.

"Yes, Kazekage-Sama." Gaara winced, stood up from his desk and glanced out his window with narrowed eyes. It wouldn't be long now. 

"You cannot bring him back to the village until I give you the go ahead." He wanted to drill this into their head. This was important. Lee couldn't be back. It was too dangerous.

"I understand."

"Leave. He will be at the gate in an hour." Gaara dismissed with a wave of his hand and the ANBU member was gone. He turned to his desk and scanned through the files that laid there. Only a matter of time now.

***

"Goodbye Lee." Gaara said and Lee smiled.

"I will be back before you even know it." He promised.

"Don't rush back, this is an important mission. You must ensure you give it your full attention." Lee nodded. "I can't walk you to the gate since you're dressed as ANBU. I can't give away your identity. I will see you when you get back." Lee grinned.

"You will. I love you." Lee hugged him and Gaara rubbed his back.

"Good luck, Lee. I'm counting on you." That fueled Lee's desire to complete this mission and complete it flawlessly. He kissed Gaara, then pulled the mask over his head and bowed, leaving the room.

Gaara glanced out of the window and watched him speed off. 

***

A few hours later, Gaara had the room filled with the remaining 9 ANBU members. His frown was deep.

"Make sure everyone will be safe. This won't be easy." Gaara said gravely. He glanced outside the window again. He saw the sand pick up in the distance. He should've known they would come with a sandstorm. If Lee hadn't left earlier, he might have seen it coming. "I'm going to need a lot of help with this."

"Yes Kazekage-sama." Gaara didn't even wince.

"Get the Konoha ninja for me. And my siblings." Gaara demanded, still looking out of the window.

He didn't have to wait too long. Temari must've been warned about the oncoming sandstorm, she was already in the building. He turned to her.

"You make sure everyone gets inside and stays there. This is going to be messy."

"Are you sure it was wise to send Lee off?" Gaara glared slightly.

"Lee would hinder this. One way or another, he would ensure this would flop." He said coldly. She knew he was right. Lee wouldn't mean it. He would do something stupid to try and protect Gaara or he wouldn't even let Gaara leave. Lee kicked into alpha overdrive when Gaara was in danger. That was the worst time for Lee to do that since Gaara was the Kazekage. He had to live in danger to protect his village.

"Gaara?" Ino asked as they were shoved into the room.

"Remember the reason you two came here?" Gaara asked, not facing them, still looking out of the window.

"Yeah, they said something about rogue ninja." Ino said slowly and walked closer to him to see what he was staring at.

"Your time has come, I guess." He said and she saw the darkened sky in the distance.

"How... do we fight a sandstorm?" She asked and Gaara looked at her with a smirk.

"You don't." He said easily and turned to Kankuro.

"Get ready." He said and Kankuro nodded and left the room. Gaara glanced at Shikamaru and walked to the opposite side of the room to get Shikamaru communicative devices. "You two will stay here."

"What!?" Ino's eyes widened.

"No harm shall come to your physical body." He said and she looked confused.

"You want her to use her mind transfer jutsu." Shikamaru said. "With who?"

"Not who. What." Gaara said and Ino still seemed confused. "Make yourself comfortable, Ino. I don't know how long you'll be sitting."

Kankuro came in 10 minutes later to see Ino made a spot to lay in. He raised an eyebrow. All the ANBU members and Temari had left. Shikamaru was sitting at a desk with several radios strewn about and papers everywhere. He seemed to be reading intently. 

"What's going on?" He asked and Gaara turned to him.

"Kankuro, which puppets are you bringing?" Kankuro reached into his pocket and pulled out 3 scrolls.

"All of 'em. Why?" Gaara's eyes glanced to Ino and she blanched.

"You want me to be a puppet?" Gaara nodded and she sighed. Kankuro raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Just for you, Gaara."

"Release one." He said and Kankuro continued to look confused but put two scrolls away and summoned a puppet from the third. Ino saw the puppet and frowned at it and looked to Kankuro.

"I hope you still want that date after this." She said, with a hint of humor. "Shikamaru." She glanced over and Shikamaru nodded and put the paper he was reading down and stood behind Ino. Kankuro watched as Ino lined her sights up with the puppet and suddenly she fainted into Shikamaru's arms. Shikamaru picked her up and put her down in the area she designated for herself. Kankuro glanced down at his puppet and it slowly stood up on its own. Gaara took in the puppet's appearance with a somber expression before turning away.

"You look better than normal, Ino." Shikamaru said with a smirk and the puppet crossed its arms.

"Oh shit, she's the puppet now?" Kankuro looked elated. "That's so cool." He sent another look to her resting body. "I guess it's time to go." He said and Gaara nodded. He turned to Shikamaru.

"Remember, if you find a discrepancy, tell me." Gaara said seriously and Shikamaru nodded seriously.

"It's time to go."

***

Gaara led everyone into the desert. They knew what they had to do. It would be tough, but not impossible, at least that's what Gaara hoped. 

For now, all he had to do was cut through the winds. He could sense their chakra from here. That wasn't good. Perhaps it was more noticeable since they were using the sandstorm as means to travel destructively. Gaara just had to make sure everyone would stay safe inside the sandstorm. Their best bet would be Ino. Since she was a puppet, she didn't have nerves. He just didn't know how much of a beating she could take before she was knocked back to her original body.

"Gaara, do you know who they are?" Kankuro called over the sound of the wind. 

"No." Gaara said with a scowl. "But we'll find out." Kankuro looked dead ahead. The sandstorm was even closer. Temari finally caught up with them and she was breathing heavily. She talked into the transmitter to Shikamaru but he didn't respond. Was the sandstorm in the way already? She scowled.

Gaara raised his arms up high and pushed against the sand with his chakra forcing a bend in the sandstorm. They would be able to push through the sand if he created enough of a force field through it. He didn't want to think about what would happen if his chakra depleted while they were inside the storm. He scowled and they pressed on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) WHOA MAN A FIGHT SCENE. Who do you think it is??  
> 2) How pissed is Lee going to be when he gets back? lol  
> 3) Do you think Kisame and Itachi are having a boy or girl?  
> 4) Do you want them to break away from the Akatsuki or stay?
> 
> Keep an eye out for my tumblr page. The puppet Kankuro used is a new one and I plan to sketch it out so you can see what it looks like.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Votes Are In!  
>  **Should Itachi and Kisame have a...**  
>  Girl |||||||||||  
> Boy|
> 
>  **Should Itachi and Kisame leave the Akatsuki**  
>  Yes|  
> No||||||  
> Later||  
> Maybe||
> 
> Y'all are funny. Looks like it's decided. Baby girl and they're staying!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **isis2iris** : That would've been a cool twist! But I want Rasa to see Gaara for the first time with a child in hand and be like "???" Thank you for your vote! I'll try and get Lee drunk!  
>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : Thank you for your vote! (I hope she lived up to your imagination lol) I feel like I need a babysitting squad of Hidan and Kakazu.  
>  **The_BookDragon** : Yasss. Baby girl <3 I need someone else in the Akatsuki to get baby fever. It's a need.  
>  **Desbelleschoses** : Eyy. They will spoil their baby girl. Aww I'm trying to picture Itachi letting that poor child keep the Jashin rosary.  
>  **MirSama** : More than anything I need their daughter to not only be a badass but love really girly things so Kisame and Itachi are forced to put up with this. Thanks for your votes!  
>  **animefanxlove** : Thanks for your votes!  
>  **Vivi** Eyyy. Thanks for your votes! Just for you saying you wanted to see her in a small akatsuki cloak, I drew it. lol. I need Hidan to fall in love with this baby. Thank you so much! I'm so happy to hear this! :D  
>  **Bumblebees_Girl** : Thank you for your votes! Yes, tiny baby girl. I love it. Like I've said to several people already, I have a MIGHTY need for Hidan to fall in love with this baby.  
>  **Lollipopgang71** : I don't even remember the end of the chapter... oh right I remember now. I love the thought of the Akatsuki with a baby in their ranks. And eyyy, you got it. Thanks for your votes. And there is no way this blue shark baby would remind Itachi of Sasuke. (I could've done the opposite. Instead of Itachi's hair and eyes and Kisame's skin, I could've done Kisame's eyes and hair and Itachi's skin... I don't think that would've reminded them of Sasuke either lol)  
>  **Boooooomies** : We've yet to see the anger of Lee! Thank you for your votes!  
>  **Kuko** : Haha I'm so proud of you! And not too long after you finished did I finish the next chapter. Congrats! I love Kakashi and Guy so much. Thank you for your votes. HOLY SHIT I DIDN'T EVEN THINK OF UNCLE SASUKE. My pregnancy was exactly what I'm writing for Itachi lol. It was awful. My sister's was fine. Mine sucked.

Chapter Twenty-three:

Fighting through the sand was easy enough. Even though everyone was equipped with armor to keep the sand from shredding their skin, they were thankful for the force field Gaara had around them keeping the sand from them. Unfortunately, that meant they were all relatively close by.

Kankuro was the first to see the figures. They were in hoods and for the most part didn't seem bothered by the sand whipping around. He wondered why. Quickly he took out his scrolls and summoned his other two puppets. He glanced to Ino.

"You ready?"

"Yes." The voice that came out wasn't her own. The voice made Gaara shiver. 

Gaara had a few puppet masters on the ANBU team and he stood back making sure the sand was cleared from them and the puppeteers began to fight off the enemy. The one in the middle was staring at Gaara, he could tell. The man didn't move and his robe flew in every direction as the storm surrounded them. Still, he stayed put as if he was just standing outside on a windy day. Gaara was curious.

While the puppeteers fought around them, Gaara tried his best to use his sand without moving his concentration from the force field. It proved to be difficult, only for because of the large perimeter of the area he was protecting. There were a lot of shinobi with him.

"Gaara!" Gaara's attention faltered briefly from the fight raging around him to the sound of Shikamaru's voice in his ear on the transmitter.

"What is it, Shikamaru?"

"I think I found out who it is. Based on everything I just read, the only person responsible for this attack is based in the hidden sound village."

"Okay. Do you know specifically who?"

"I think it's Orochimaru. He was one of the three legendary Sannin. If it is him, he's labeled as a missing S-Ranked nin. It's a strict order of flee on sight. Be careful." Gaara continued his gaze with the man several yards in front of him with a look of curiosity. Could that be Orochimaru?

"Fuck!" Kankuro growled and Gaara turned to him. "One of my puppets is down." The puppeteer ANBU members were also facing some difficulty. Once the sand was cleared more, they could see why. There were so many ninja surrounding them. They were outnumbered significantly. Gaara scowled. He didn't want to be the fault of all these strong shinobi being injured or worse. He glanced around and got a gage of the perimeter of his area of protection. Suddenly, Gaara walked out into the sandstorm and created a thick sand shield around his shinobi. He knew they would be angry but he had to figure out what this was about.

The man in the robe seemed to smile. Gaara stood without protection in the sandstorm yet not a single grain of sand touched his skin. It all deflected. 

"Gaara." The voice chuckled and took a few steps forward. He put his hands up to stop any of the shinobi on his side from fighting. They stayed still. "What an honor it is, Kazekage-sama." Gaara scowled at him.

"What do you want?" He asked and he heard the loud protests of the ninja trapped in the sand shield. He would get them out soon.

"Just to talk. I see that you were smart enough to figure it out." The man walked closer to him and soon he stood right in front of Gaara.

"Orochimaru?" There was another laugh.

"No. He's not here right now. I've come to talk to you about something, but it doesn't seem like we have time." The man frowned and Gaara saw his eyes twinkle behind his glasses. "So you'll seek me out soon enough."

"What makes you so sure?" Gaara asked and the man gave a swift poke to Gaara's abdomen with chakra coated fingers. The sand grabbed his arm before he could completely land the hit but Gaara saw the smirk on the man's face and he tilted his head.

"Well, you will if you want to have children again." He said and his eyes glanced down to Gaara's abdomen again and suddenly a sharp pain resonated inside him and he collapsed to the ground. "That's the down side of messing with a medic-nin, Gaara-sama." He tutted. "You'll come to us. Eventually. Alone."

The sound ninja disappeared as quickly as they came and Gaara writhed on the desert ground. His sand barrier collapsed and everyone rain to his aid but he was screaming, a deep guttural sound and digging his fingers into the sand below.

"Gaara!" He vomited blood and his vision was blurred. He looked up and saw the puppet. 

Yashamaru.

"We'll get you out of here." He knew it was Ino, but it sounded like Yashamaru and Gaara couldn't take it. He passed out.

***

"Where is he?!" Lee's voice screamed.

"Lee you need to calm down." Temari said, standing in front of him, blocking his path. Kankuro helped keep Lee at bay.

"No! I will not calm down! I leave and there is an attack on the village?! I did not even get half way to my mission before I had to turn around! I felt it! Gaara is in pain!" Lee was crying now. "Let me see him."

"Lee, we can't do that until you calm down."

"But... Did they wait for me to leave to attack?" Lee asked helplessly. "Who was it?"

"We aren't exactly positive, but we believe it's Kabuto Yakushi." Temari said with a sigh. She knew that guy was a creep.

"Why would he do this?"

"He works for Orochimaru." Kankuro responded quietly. "We were in alliance with them. Until we found out that he killed our father and impersonated him. Naturally we cut ties with him but I guess there's still hard feelings even though he killed OUR dad, not the other way around." Kankuro scowled.

"What did he do to Gaara? Did he stab him? I felt a sharp pain in my stomach." Temari and Kankuro shared a look. Telling Lee might send him into a rage. They weren't sure if they should let him know or not.

"Uh, we aren't sure yet. Gaara had faced Kabuto on his own. We didn't see." Lee bared his teeth. "Lee, go take a walk, you need to get that anger out. We can't have you near Gaara that angry right now." Despite not wanting to, Lee stormed off. 

Temari and Kankuro shared a guilty look. 

***

"So I guess my main question is why the fuck would Orochimaru single out Gaara like that." Shikamaru asked at the table. Since the microphone was on when Kabuto was talking to Gaara, Shikamaru heard the whole thing. Obviously he did something with his chakra to destroy Gaara's reproductive system. The question is what, and why?

"Can't someone else heal Gaara? What about Tsunade-sama?" Ino said and Shikamaru shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I don't know what the damage is. All I know is how adamant Kabuto sounded when he said Gaara would need to come to him eventually to get fixed. The question I can't answer is what they need him for. I really need to think." Shikamaru rubbed his head and grabbed a chair and dragged it outside to look at the sky.

***

A few days later, Gaara woke up in the hospital. He blinked and looked around and finally his eyes set on Lee. He looked pensive, nothing like how he normally did. Gaara was curious how long he was out for that Lee was back from his mission.

"How did your mission go?" Gaara asked and Lee looked up at him. He still didn't seem happy.

"I did not go. We were still on our way when I doubled over in pain. Pain from you. I raced back." Lee admitted.

"Oh." Gaara looked down at the bed. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what Lee knew. "Do the doctors know what's wrong?"

"No. Your sand will not let them near you." Gaara frowned and noticed Lee was avoiding looking at him.

"What's your problem?" He asked finally and Lee looked at him and shook his head.

"I cannot help but think that this was a plan. How you were attacked as soon as I left the village. I am not leaving again." Lee insisted and Gaara held back a sigh. He knew it wouldn't get him anywhere to argue. He would try again later when Lee calmed down. "Do you know what Kabuto did?"

"Kabuto?" Gaara blinked. It made sense. He thinks he vaguely remembered the ninja that quit at the chunin exams. "I'm unsure." Gaara said and Lee bristled at that.

"Gaara I know you are being dishonest with me. I do not appreciate it, but I also cannot force you to tell me. With that being said, I really need to take a walk now." Lee got up and left the room. Gaara watched him leave with a heavy heart. 

How would he tell Lee that Kabuto rendered him incapable of having pups? Would Lee even want to be with him anymore?

With a feeling of distress, Gaara stared out the window wondering how long he'd humor the doctors by staying put.

The answer was not very long.

***

Konan was worried. She had been looking over Itachi for years and never has she seen him as sick as he was now. He was almost always locked in his room and she honestly had no idea why. He'd never done this before. 

She briefly talked to Pein about it, but he assured her that Itachi was fine but she just couldn't let it go. So she decided to check on him one day.

Walking through the corridors of the hideout she looked for the familiar door that belonged to the Uchiha. Once she found out she knocked lightly on the door but was met with the sound of vomiting. She opened the door slowly and peeked inside. Kisame was sitting on the bed next to Itachi and rubbing his back while Itachi vomited into the waste basket. 

It was already known that the two were close, Kisame was fiercely loyal to Itachi and Itachi held Kisame in the highest regards, but there was something between them that felt intimate. Not wanting to leave without an answer, she opened the door more and made her presence known.

"Itachi, are you alright?"

"Actually-"

"Shut up, Kisame." Itachi hissed and Kisame frowned at that but there was another bout of nausea and Itachi was now dry heaving. Konan could see the bags under his eyes and he looked pale and sickly. Was this the disease?

"They're going to find out soon anyway!" Kisame argued. "Maybe they can help."

"No one can help." Itachi hissed. "It's your fault!" Konan blinked. Had Kisame hurt Itachi?

"I'm sorry!" Kisame apologized. "But please, Itachi-san, we need to let them know. This isn't exactly something we can hi—"

"I'm pregnant." Itachi said flatly to Konan and she noticed his face turn green again and he was dry heaving.

"What? Since when were you an omega?" Konan asked after she stepped inside and closed the door. "We thought you were a beta. That's what you said you were." Itachi scowled. "So this entire time you've been able to scent things?" Itachi nodded grimly. "How... How did you hide your heats this entire time? No blockers in the world work that efficiently."

"A drug my dad gave me." Itachi said with a grimace. Kisame was handing him crackers. "Kisame I don't want those right now." Itachi said and laid down. Kisame sighed and put the crackers back on the nightstand and started to rub Itachi's back again.

"You're going to have to eat something eventually." Konan said gently and Itachi glanced at her and sighed.

"Perhaps."

"Don't mind him. He's grumpy. He hasn't eaten in a while without vomiting." Kisame said with a frown and Itachi closed his eyes. "Are you going to sleep?" Itachi gave a weak nod. "Do you want me to get you anything?" He shook his head. "Not even dango?" just hearing that made him want to whimper. The smell of dango, one of his favorite foods, sent him into a vomiting frenzy. 

"Please no."

"Itachi do you need to see a doctor? I can get you a doctor." Konan said and walked in the room a bit more to examine Itachi further. He was wearing just a regular black shirt and black pants. They seemed looser than normal. He needed to get food. "You're losing weight, aren't you?" He gave a curt nod and Kisame sighed.

"Good luck. He won't listen to me and go to the doctor."

"Well that may be because he doesn't feel strong enough to walk there. I'll get you a doctor." Konan said and gave Itachi one last look before she walked to the door.

"Konan." She turned to face Kisame.

"If you don't mind-" She nodded.

"My lips are sealed." Kisame gave an awkward thankful smile and she left.

"Kisame." Itachi's voice was quiet but Kisame heard the need in it.

"Yes, Itachi." Kisame held Itachi from behind and Itachi was asleep in a few moments. 

Kisame laid next to Itachi in the dimly lit room just thinking about the time that passed since Itachi went into heat. It was so interesting to think about. How one minute they were just partners and the next... they're having a child. Kisame's grip on Itachi tightened a bit. He looked at the inky black hair that was spilled all over his pillows and the silent way Itachi would sleep. 

It would be a lie if Kisame said he harbored no romantic feelings for Itachi, even before everything happened. It was just weird to think about before. No matter how much he liked Itachi he wouldn't let himself think about him as anything but a partner for fear that it would ruin the dynamic they had already.

But now? Now he was holding Itachi in his arms while Itachi slept, weak with fatigue from the pregnancy. Pregnancy they created together. Itachi was essentially his, wasn't he? Would it be safe to act on certain feelings now? Would Itachi be angry at him for it? Kisame couldn't really see how. Especially since pregnant omega are very cuddly. It was interesting. Sometimes he would be sitting in his own room and Itachi would just walk in and sit right next to him and Kisame would pull Itachi into his lap and Itachi would relax into his arms.

Kisame loved that. He smiled into Itachi's hair. He was angry with himself a bit after realizing how soft Itachi was making him. A part of him wondered if Itachi felt the same way about him.

***

Itachi was surprised to be woken up, even more so by a doctor he didn't recognize. He felt himself panic slightly but felt Kisame's chakra in the room and looked to find him. Once he saw Kisame, his body visibly relaxed and he leaned back into the bed. Kisame bit back a grin at that and just stayed against the wall with his arms crossed. Itachi was sure acting different right now but it was really cute to see. He wouldn't tell the man that, but it didn't hurt to think.

"I was told you're having trouble keeping foods down." The doctor said and flicked a saline drip back. Itachi was just realizing he was already hooked up to it. "This is to at least keep your hydration levels up, you were getting very dehydrated." He said and picked up his bag and placed it on the nightstand. "I'm going to put some anti-nausea medication into your drip. It should take care of the nausea for at least a few hours. Plenty of time to get some food in your system and through digestion enough that you won't throw it up."

"Okay." Itachi was just noticing Konan in the corner of the room staring at them. She led the doctor out and walked to his bedside.

"Do you need anything?" She asked and he blinked at her.

"I'll make sure he gets everything he needs." Kisame promised and she turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"I take it that it's your kid?" She asked and Kisame flushed slightly and he chuckled.

"Yeah..." His eyes glanced over to Itachi and Itachi was laying down looking at the ceiling. 

"Okay. The doctor said the first trimester is the worst. So that's about 12 weeks. How far along are you?" Itachi wanted to cry.

"Six." Another six weeks of this hell? Itachi might as well give up now.

"I'll make sure you two don't get put on missions for a while. I'll talk to Pein." Kisame gave her a thankful nod and Konan left the room. 

"Let me know the second you're not nauseous anymore and I'll go get you whatever you want to eat." Despite everything, that made Itachi laugh. It was a quiet small laugh but it was there.

"Why, Kisame. I didn't know you cared so much." Itachi said in a soft teasing tone and glanced at his partner. Kisame then walked closer to the bed and leaned over it to look at Itachi.

"Of course I do." Itachi just stared at Kisame's face with a small trace of confusion. Suddenly he smiled and pat the mattress next to him and Kisame laid down next to Itachi.

He had a feeling he'd have to train four times as hard once this cuddling need was over just to get back into shape. 

***

No one told Lee what Kabuto managed to do. No one could stomach the thought of telling the alpha. Plus, Gaara threatened everyone. 

Gaara knew that Lee wanted children so the fact that he couldn't have them was upsetting. Eventually he would have to seek out Orochimaru. How would he go by himself? He glanced down and put his hand on his abdomen. He honestly didn't care too much about not being able to have children. He wasn't sure he'd be a good father. Would he? 

"Gaara?" Gaara glanced up and Lee stood there in his office. When had that happened?

"Lee." Gaara rose from his desk. It was over a week of them not talking. It was amazing to even see him in the office.

"I am sorry." He apologized and walked over and grabbed Gaara's hand. "I was just upset that I was not here to protect you."

"You can't always be here to protect me, Lee. I'm fine." Lee frowned.

"You were in the hospital for days, Gaara. Kabuto knocked you unconscious and the doctors could not even figure out why. How do I know that you will be okay? How do I know that you are fine?" Lee was growing more and more frustrated. There wasn't anything he could do to protect his mate and Gaara didn't even seem to care. It was really heartbreaking to think that Gaara could have died and he wasn't there to do anything about it and Gaara still just didn't care.

"Lee. I know you're upset. But I'm fine now." Lee's eyes glanced down to Gaara's abdomen and touched it with his fingers. The touch of his mate near an intimate area sent shivers down his spine. 

"It hurt here." Lee whispered. "I felt it. And I would like to figure out why." Gaara tried not to show too much expression on his face, it wasn't hard to do, but somehow Lee was always able to pick up even the most subtle hint of anything. "You are worried." Yeah, he was worried Lee would find out. "We will figure out what it is and then fix it. Do not be worried, Gaara. I am here." He promised and Lee wanted to say that's exactly what he was worried about.

***

"Hey Naruto!" Naruto glanced up and saw Sakura jog towards him.

"Oh. Hey Sakura, what's up?" Naruto wiped the sweat off his forehead, she was smiling. "What are you so happy about?"

"We're all getting together for dinner tonight. Well, the ones of us who are still in the village."

"Ino and Shikamaru are still in Suna?" She nodded. "Why?"

"Apparently there's a worse threat than they thought. They should be coming back soon. Gaara apparently is insisting they be sent home since he doesn't want to keep too many of Konoha ninja. Ino is demanding she stay longer. Shikamaru seems content."

"I wonder if they found their mate or not." Naruto said thoughtfully and Sakura's eyes lit up.

"That would be so funny! I would love to know who that Ino-pig is dating." Sakura said with a grin.

"Ino-pig? I thought you two were past that." Naruto said and laughed.

"Nah, it's a forever nickname." Sakura said simply and sat down on the ground. "So did you want to go?"

"Oh." Naruto's cheeks turned pink. "I'll have to talk to Sasuke. We actually had a date tonight." A part of Sakura was jealous. The boy she'd been fawning over for years was dating Naruto of all people. But the intellectual part of her brain insisted that they were true mates so her and Sasuke wouldn't have worked out anyway.

That did not make it any easier to deal with.

"Well that's nice. Where were you going to go?" Naruto shrugged. "Surprise?"

"I guess. Sasuke just asked me to go with him and that was that." Sakura smiled and Naruto groaned, looking embarrassed. "Please don't."

"But Naruto! Look at you two!" She teased.

"Yeah, the last person I expected to be in this situation with, honestly." Naruto said with a sigh and sat on the tree trunk. He then looked at it fondly. "Hey, remember when Kakashi-sensei tied me to this and told you two not to feed me? You did anyway." Sakura blushed.

"Yeah but Sasuke was the one who tried to feed you first, if you remember." She said and Naruto looked up thoughtfully.

"Oh wow, you're right."

"Anyway, come on! Let's go!"

"Go where?"

"You have a date tonight and I've seen the clothes you own. Come on." Sakura said and dragged him off the stump.

"Aww Sakura! I'll be fine! I don't need fancy clothes! It's just Sasuke!" Naruto argued and Sakura looked at him with a frown.

"It isn't just Sasuke, it's your soulmate. You should want to dress up for him. Come on. It'll be fun." Naruto groaned. Sakura had a different opinion of fun than he did.

***

Sasuke walked to Naruto's apartment awkwardly. His face was burning. Why were dates so awkward? Why was he even trying? Naruto would likely just be slumming it in his normal jumper.

Adjusting the collar of his new button up shirt, he raised his fist and knocked on Naruto's door, playing with the stem of the rose he was holding. 

This was stupid.

Why is he even trying?

Maybe he should go-

Naruto opened the door and Sasuke's eyes widened. He couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips. Since when did Naruto own civilian clothes?

"Don't laugh at me, asshole. You look dumb too." Sasuke smirked at the blushing Naruto and handed him the flower, now feeling more at ease with himself. Naruto took it in his hands and Sasuke reveled in the pink cheeks Naruto had. "Thanks..." Naruto went inside to put the flower in water and Sasuke checked him out as he walked away. Honestly, Naruto was cute. He could've had a worse time with a different mate. It just sucked that Naruto was so annoying. 

Naruto was wearing his typical orange. It was a button up shirt but he had a black vest on and black pants. The pants looked really good on him. He walked back to the door.

"You ready?" Naruto asked and Sasuke nodded, smirking. "What?"

"You look good." He complimented and Naruto scowled.

"You don't need to lie. I look like a dork." He said and wanted to say Sakura picked out the garb but didn't want Sasuke to freak out so kept his mouth shut.

"You always look like a dork." Sasuke said, smirk still in place. "But now you look like a well-dressed dork."

"Well you look the same as always. An arrogant asshole." Naruto muttered with a pout. Sasuke just wore a dark blue button up and black pants.

"Oh good, I didn't want this relationship to change my sense of style." Sasuke said easily and Naruto scoffed. Sasuke honestly did look good though, it wasn't fair how he could look good in nearly anything. Naruto was suddenly feeling self-conscious. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Naruto mumbled and looked down at the dirt and kicked it as they walked.

"Whatever, Naruto." Sasuke sighed. He didn't want this date to go to hell, he really was trying. Naruto was making it impossible to woo him though. Weeks later and their first kiss was still their only kiss. When Naruto accidentally kissed him back at the academy. The memory caused Sasuke to shiver. If only he realized how much he would want Naruto's lips on his own, maybe he'd be able to remember the feel of it.

Eventually they made it to the restaurant where they'd be eating that night and Naruto was both impressed and disappointed. It was a nice restaurant, honestly, but it wasn't his normal ramen shop.

Once they were seated, Sasuke put his hand on Naruto's menu and pulled it away. Naruto looked at him confused. Sasuke just smirked.

"I already know what we're ordering." He said simply and Naruto frowned. Now he couldn't even order his own food? What the hell? "Don't be mad. You'll like it." 

"How do you even-"

"Naruto. If there's anything I know about you, it's your taste in food." Sasuke insisted and Naruto pouted but nodded. Suddenly irritated that he was accepting Sasuke ordering his food but whatever. He would get over it. When the waiter came over, Sasuke ordered, Naruto was amazed to hear Sasuke ordering him ramen. This place had ramen?

After that, Naruto was less irritable. He actually attempted a conversation with Sasuke. The two of them spoke awkwardly and stiffly at first but eventually the conversation began to flow a bit better.

When the ramen came out, Naruto looked at it surprised. It looked so... fancy. When he tasted it, he was impressed to find that it was actually really good ramen. Some of the best he's tried. Why did such a nice restaurant have ramen, anyway? And Sasuke smirked at him as he ate his own food seeing Naruto finished his own bowl. Trying to be a shit, Naruto was going to demand another bowl since this one didn't fill him completely. However, before the words could get out, his bowl was taken away and another was placed in front of him. Sasuke continued to smirk and Naruto gave him an honest smile.

***

"Thanks, Sasuke." Naruto said on the walk home. "Dinner with you in a fancy restaurant didn't actually suck."

"Oh well, thanks. I try to not have my dates suck." Sasuke retorted and Naruto felt a jolt of jealousy.

"I'm sure you have many dates to compare this to." Sasuke scoffed at the comment, he'd never actually been on a date but something about the way Naruto said it caught his attention.

"Are you seriously jealous?" He asked, curious. Naruto's face turned red and he scowled.

"Of course I'm not you asshole." He insisted and Sasuke raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Are you sure? You're sounding pretty jealous right now." In Sasuke's alpha mind, a jealous omega was a good omega. If they were jealous they were interested. Naruto was never jealous of anyone who showed interest in him before. They were making some sort of progress. Finally. It had been nearly a month of Sasuke trying to get Naruto's affections. 

"Sasuke, shut up. You're a dick. I bet all your other dates were terrible because you suck." Naruto said childishly and Sasuke laughed and they turned into the building where Naruto lived and jumped up to his floor and Sasuke stood outside of his door.

"Hey Naruto?" Sasuke said as Naruto opened his door.

"What?"

"This was the only date I've been on." He admitted and Naruto wanted to call him out on it but when he paid attention to Sasuke's face, he saw that Sasuke was smiling. Honestly smiling. For once he could feel the honesty from Sasuke. It was strange.

"Me too." Naruto said softly instead of yelling at Sasuke for something. "Thanks."

"Before you go..." Sasuke took a step closer and Naruto looked up at Sasuke, pissed that he got a sudden growth spurt apparently. Sasuke looked unsure but leaned in anyway and Naruto let him. And when Sasuke's lips touched his own, he didn't complain. It was a feeling of coming alive, if that made sense. Naruto could feel his body respond to the tender kiss from his soulmate. It was a warm feeling all over. He felt safe and cared for and that was something he never expected from Sasuke. He wanted more of this feeling. "Goodnight, Naruto." Sasuke said quietly and ran his fingers through Naruto's hair and suddenly he was gone and Naruto's heart felt different than it did before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may be asking yourself why Lee wasn't angrier. I don't know if I portrayed this enough but at the moment he has no idea Gaara sent him off on a mission to do nothing. So we didn't get to see him angry at that yet.
> 
> 1) Now that we know Itachi and Kisame are having a girl, help me name her!  
> 2) Who in the Akatsuki should be an omega? (I feel like Deidara would be a total cop out, idk why.)  
> 3) Who should have baby fever in the Akatsuki after KisaIta's baby is born?  
> 4) What do you think Orochimaru wants from our dear Gaara?
> 
> I drew Itachi and Kisame's daughter! Check it out on my tumblr!  
> https://smoresiesfanfic.tumblr.com/


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Votes are in!
> 
>  **Akatsuki's omega**  
>  Konan |  
> Pein |  
> Deidara ||  
> Hidan||||  
> Obito/Tobi: |
> 
>  **Baby fever in the Akatsuki**  
>  Konan|||  
> Kakuzu||  
> Hidan ||  
> Deidara|  
> Everyone |
> 
> I am LOVING IT that Hidan won! Thank you everyone for making this possible. I'm so excited for this!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Vivi** : Thank you! I love the baby. She's precious!! I can't wait for her either. I love her already.  
>  **The_BookDragon** : Thank you for your names and votes! I've seen it happen too. It's hysterical Baby fever is so funny.   
> **Kuko** : I do lol. Pregnancy is tough on me, I don't plan on having another one. Yes, this is why I don't mind when people talk to me about their life because then I get experience through them and I can write things better! Thank you for your votes!   
> **animefanxlove** : I feel bad for Lee because I know he's just trying hard to protect Gaara but Gaara feels like he's overwhelming but Lee's doing the best he can. Soon Gaara will have to push his feelings aside in order to not hurt Lee's anymore and once that happens I know we'll see them both heal.   
> **Bumblebees_Girl** : Thank you for the name ideas! One thing I don't like when people ruin is Naruto and Sasuke's relationship. I try very hard to maintain Sasuke's cool personality and Naruto's reluctance to anything Sasuke says because he doesn't want to be considered less than Sasuke. I'm glad you were able to catch on and enjoy that. We have more SasuNaru moments in the chapter too!  
>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : Hidan is literally the best choice and I'm living it. I want all my omegas to be people you wouldn't expect to be an omega honestly. So many Akatsuki babies!! I want them all! I hate Kabuto too. Gaara has a lot to learn! Kisame and Itachi are all I want to write anymore, it's bad. I'm trying so hard to even everything out but they are my LIFE.  
>  **YoKoChi150** :   
> Espere. ¿Dijiste que Hidan debería tener un bebé con Kakashi? ¿Querías decir Kakuzu? Quiero decir, Kakashi es una elección totalmente aleatoria e hilarante.  
>  **oxohunnyoxo** : Don't apologize! It's fine! And I'm well! That's such a great name idea. I love it. And I'd love to see Hidan try and name his child Jashin. That would be fantastic.  
>  **Orcana** : HIDAN. IS. OMEGA. I love that so much. Thank you all for making this possible. Honestly, it warms my heart.

Chapter Twenty-Four:

It was only a matter of time before everyone had to get together for a meeting and Itachi wanted to die. 

As the week went by, he was able to eat a few things but his coughing was getting worse. Kisame was worried. Konan brought the doctor by twice. He said since all of Itachi's immune system support was going to the baby, his sickness was progressing faster since he had nothing to keep him healed. 

Kisame felt like the worst person alive upon hearing that. Itachi was dying quicker because Kisame said he wanted to keep the baby. What good would the baby do without Itachi? Kisame wasn't sure he would be a good enough father to care for her for the both of them. What if Itachi died beforehand? Before he even had a chance to grow the baby enough so it would be viable in the outside world? Then Kisame will have lost them both and he couldn't handle the thought of that.

Itachi clung to him desperately nearly at all times. He knew it had to be grating on the Uchiha. They're a proud family, so needing someone else's constant help must be trying for him. Itachi's breathing was haggard and Kisame wanted nothing more than to stay locked in this room with Itachi but he had to force the man out of bed to get to the meeting.

Itachi was dressed easy enough and the Akatsuki cloak covered most of him up so no one could see how sickly he looked. They walked through the hideout and to the meeting area where Itachi stood closer to Kisame than normal. This raised a few eyebrows but since Pein was talking, no one said anything.

"How is our progress on the tailed beasts?" He asked and was supplied with several answers from each member. Pein skipped over Itachi completely and he wondered if Konan had told him or if Pein actually had enough compassion to not embarrass Itachi in front of the entire organization. Kisame answered simply and told them their progress with the one-tailed beast and Itachi's thought were brought to the Jinchuriki. Gaara, he read his file. He hadn't actually met the kid, but from what he read he used to be a ruthless killer and now he was the Kazekage of one of the 5 main hidden villages and an omega at that. If there was anyone who should be the poster child for inspiration, it was that kid. Itachi hoped they wouldn't have to kill him. Or any of them.

After everything was updated, Pein announced missions for Hidan and Kakuzu and left. Itachi didn't brush off the strange look Hidan was giving him. 

When everyone cleared the room, Hidan was still there, this time he was smirking.

"What do you want?" Kisame asked blankly and Hidan's grin stretched across most of his face.

"Well who the fuck woulda guessed it, huh?" He kicked himself off the wall and strode up to Itachi, twirling his scythe in his hand. "The Uchiha is a fuckin' omega. Man, that's some funny shit." Itachi didn't even have the energy to argue with him.

"And yet, he can still kick your ass... whatever it is you are." Kisame said and eyed the gray haired man. 

"Don't listen to Hidan." Kakuzu said flatly, walking back into the room. Itachi tensed up realizing now more people would know his ailments. "Hidan here is an omega too."

"What the fuck, man!?" Hidan scowled. "Why you gotta out me like this!?"

"Because you're being a dick." Kakuzu said, with the same bored tone. "And it's nice to see you suffer."

"Well fuck you too, Kakuzu. I'm gonna sacrifice your ass first." Kakuzu rolled his eyes, like he hadn't heard that insult before.

"What exactly gave me away?" Itachi asked slowly and Hidan forgot about the elder man and grinned at Itachi and poked his nose.

"A pregnant omega has a scent, you should know that. You're a genius after all." Itachi closed his eyes in frustration at his momentarily lapse. Now he could only hope that everyone here was a beta.

"Hm." Kisame hummed to himself, looking at Hidan. "I could not imagine anyone wanting to get you pregnant."

"I dunno, I'm told I smell fuckin' delectable." Hidan said with a grin and Kakuzu groaned and rolled his eyes. "What? You got something to say?"

"Don't you two have a mission?" Itachi said boredly and Hidan frowned.

"Yeah. Let's go. Good luck with that pregnancy of yours!" Itachi closed his eyes in frustration. Hopefully the entire hideout didn't hear that.

"If you want, I'll cut his head off and bury it somewhere." Kisame offered. "Even though he'd be alive, we wouldn't be able to hear him talk."

"That does sound rather nice." Itachi mused and him and Kisame linked arms and Kisame led him to the bedroom. "Uh, actually, can we go outside? Just for a minute." Kisame nodded and changed direction.

Itachi didn't know what time of day it would be, but the sun was setting and the air was fresh when he came outside. It was a beautiful time of day to be outside. Kisame brought him to a place to sit and the two of them sat side by side quietly and admired the peace of the outside.

"Itachi." Kisame's voice broke through the tranquility, but it wasn't unwelcomed. "I have a question." Kisame's voice sounded tentative, it was strange. Itachi hummed in response. "What... what are we?"

"We're partners." Itachi responded easily and glanced to Kisame with a calm expression. "In more than one thing now." Kisame's eyes looked down to Itachi's abdomen and back to Itachi's face. "Why?" Kisame shrugged and didn't respond, he just kept looking forward at the trees in the distance. 

Itachi couldn't help but feel that Kisame wanted a different answer. He just didn't know the answer Kisame wanted to hear.

***

"How did I know you'd be here?" Naruto looked up to see Sasuke and felt himself smile. "Do you do anything other than train and eat?"

"Sometimes I talk to you." Naruto said cheekily and Sasuke rolled his eyes and jumped down from the tree, landing perfectly on his feet and taking several strides to where Naruto stood. 

Their date was a week ago and they'd talked since then and Sasuke couldn't help but feel their dynamic change, even slightly. He was glad for it. Naruto wasn't getting as angry at him as he usually did and actually answered questions of Sasuke's instead of being on guard the whole time. Sasuke idly wondered if this is how hard it was to woo all omega or if he was just lucky. 

"You done with your own training?" Naruto asked and Sasuke shrugged. In all honesty, he could've trained more but decided he would rather see Naruto, so here he was. He wouldn't tell Naruto that though.

"Yeah, I decided to go for a walk and ended up here." Naruto laughed.

"Yeah, I'm sure you had no intention of that what-so-ever. I see through your Mr. Cool-Guy act, Sasuke." Sasuke looked mock-offended.

"Act? No, Naruto. I'm just a cool guy. I can see why you'd think it was an act. You don't know how it is to be a cool guy. Tragic." 

"Don't be a dick." Naruto said with a smirk. "So what gravitational pull brought you over to the training grounds to hang out with peasants like me, prince Sasuke?" There was so much Sasuke could respond to in that sentence but he honed on one thing. 

"A five syllable word, I'm impressed." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Out of everything, that's what you say?"

"I could've said something about me being your prince charming, but even I'm not that corny." Naruto wrinkled his nose at that.

"That's probably for the best. Considering, I'm YOUR prince charming. I'm way more charming than you." Sasuke arched a brow.

"About as charming as an apartment full of empty ramen bowls."

"Which is only slightly less charming than an apartment full of filled ramen bowls." Naruto responded with a grin.

"You are something else." Sasuke said and Naruto rubbed under his nose with a laugh. "Walk with me."

"What a very polite way of asking." Naruto said sarcastically but Sasuke was glad to see Naruto took strides with him. They fell into an even rhythm of walking and Sasuke's hands dug deep in his pockets. He didn't even know what to do with Naruto. He wanted to do something but what was there? "I heard you've been cleaning up the compound." Naruto said quietly and Sasuke tensed slightly. He wanted to lash out at that, but if Naruto were to be his mate, he'd have to at least answer his questions.

"Yeah." Sasuke sniffed and looked away. Naruto could tell he didn't want to talk about it but he was just so curious. Why? Why now?

Sasuke wasn't ready to tell Naruto about the interesting things he found in his brother's room after so long of being away from the compound. He wasn't prepared for it himself. He didn't even think his brother wanted the things to be found with the way they were hidden, but Sasuke had found them and he couldn't stop reading through them, hoping it would make better sense of things but he couldn't understand it. It wasn't even written in a language Sasuke could read. He didn't know what it was but the precision of each stroke felt important. Maybe one day he'd realize what it was written in and he'd be able to crack the code.

"Well, if you ever want to talk about it, I'll listen, believe it." Naruto said quietly and Sasuke nodded, he didn't want to verbally respond, he wasn't sure he could without either giving Naruto an unnecessary attitude or breaking his resolve and telling Naruto everything he found. Neither one of those sounded good to him at the moment.

For now they just fell into comfortable silence and Sasuke thought about the strange letters he saw and who would be the best person to ask about them.

***

"Lee." Lee glanced over his shoulder and saw Gaara holding something.

"Yes, my love?" He asked softly and Gaara frowned. Lee was still upset. Gaara hadn't told him what was wrong and he was depressed about it. Gaara walked into the room and handed Lee a cup of tea and sat down next to him.

"I'll tell you what I'm hiding if you don't overreact." Gaara said and Lee tensed.

"So you do admit that you were lying to me." Gaara nodded and took a sip of his tea. "Why would you lie?"

"I believe I was already talking about something. Do you agree or not?" Gaara's voice was cold and Lee frowned and wanted to tell him no, to answer Lee's questions first, but he nodded reluctantly. "I need your verbal conformation on this, Lee."

"Yes. I agree. I will not overreact." Lee promised and Gaara sighed.

"Kabuto has made me infertile." Then he took a sip of tea as if he hadn't said that sentence that tore Lee's heart in half.

"Why?" Lee felt like he was choking on air.

"I'm not sure."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was certain you would do something foolish." Lee growled.

"Foolish?! In case it has not been made clear to you, Gaara, someone has hurt you a great deal! Anything I do would be justified! You should have told me sooner!"

"And what, pray tell would that accomplish?" Gaara asked, scathingly. "Would it have somehow healed me?"

"No but I would have found a way to heal you!" 

"And what if I don't want to be healed?" Gaara asked.

"What do you mean? What kind of silly notion is that? Why would you not want to be healed?"

"Perhaps I don't want children. Have you thought of that?" Lee's eyes widened and his heart ached. No. Why would Gaara even say that?

"B-but..." He sputtered.

"You thought since you're an alpha I would automatically heed your demands of giving you pups?" Gaara scoffed and put his cup on the table and stood up with his arms crossed. 

"No!"

"Then why is it such a strange concept that I'd rather not give my body up for nearly 10 months in order to have children I don't want?" Lee blinked, hurt.

"You are being intentionally cruel." He said quietly. "Why? What are you hiding?" Lee stood up and slammed his cup down. "Stop hiding things from me!" Gaara scowled at the flash of alpha across Lee's face. He'd hoped Lee wouldn't catch on, apparently Lee was more in tuned with him than Gaara originally thought.

"Don't you dare try and use your alpha voice on me." Gaara said lowly, but he was only pissed off because it started to work.

"We have been not talking for weeks and this is what you are upset about? Not that I am angry with you for hiding things but I have the means to find out what it is? And you are scared! Why are you scared I will find out!?" Lee was so angry. He didn't think he could get this angry at Gaara. "Tell me!"

"I sent you out of the village on purpose! I knew the attack was coming and I didn't want you here for it!" Gaara was breathing heavily after he screamed at Lee. No no no. This was the one thing he wanted to hide from Lee for good. How did Lee get this out of him? He wanted to be angry at his alpha, but when he scented the air he just smelled... heartbreak.

"Why?" Lee's voice was small. "Actually... Don't tell me." He said with an ironic smile. "You will only lie to me again." Lee left the room and Gaara collapsed on the couch and angrily rubbed his face. For fuck's sake... How would he amend this?

The part that was even worse about it was, he couldn't find himself upset that Lee left before the explanation. If there was one thing Gaara didn't want to explain, it was why he sent Lee out of the village while everyone else stayed.

***

Lee ran through the village with such speed, he knocked a few people over but he couldn't find himself to care. His vision was blurred by tears and he was so angry he could feel his blood pumping through his veins. He tried to steady his breathing but it was difficult. He was completely heartbroken.

He made it out of the village and stood in the desert under the unforgiving heat of the setting sun. How was it still so hot when the sun was almost gone?

Lee collapsed into the sand and dug his fingers in the sand as roughly as he could, gripping it tightly as if he were strangling something. He wanted to get this aggression out. Then maybe he could talk to Gaara.

Gaara. His mate. His wonderful omega.

His wonderful omega who didn't seem to think high enough of him to actually have him help! If Gaara hadn't sent him out of the village-then-then-

Then what?

Lee slumped in the sand. What good was he? He didn't have anything under his belt but taijutsu. What good was that-really? What good was he as an alpha? He couldn't even protect his mate. His mate didn't even trust him enough to protect him. What a smack in the face! Lee was so embarrassed he cried. 

Did everyone else know? Did they look at him pityingly as the alpha who had his omega there to protect him? Did they laugh at him behind his back? 

Lee wanted to stop crying, to prove to himself that he was an alpha and alpha don't cry. But... he wasn't an alpha. Not really. What did he have to show for it? All he had was a knot on his dick. Everything else? What's the point? He didn't have respect. Everyone still looked at him strange. Lee just didn't see the point.

He watched the sun set in the distance, hugging his knees and looking as the desert settled down for the night. Before he was burning and sweating so bad it seeped into his clothes. Now that there wasn't anything for the heat to cling to, the air was cold and Lee shivered.

Tears stained his face as he watched the nothingness of the desert around him. 

"Lee." Lee's eyes closed and he felt Gaara sit at his side. "Lee, I'm not going to ask you to talk, in fact, I don't want you to. I want you to listen to me. Not that I have all this good knowledge I need to bestow on you, I just want you to know some things and I don't want to be interrupted." Gaara took in a breath. "I think highly of you, Lee. It doesn't seem like it and I know you're mad at me and you have every right to be, I'm not trying to amend that. You be angry as long as you'd like, you have that right. I never thought in my life I would be not only blessed with a mate, but a soulmate. I just... I can't explain to you the feeling of surprise." Lee could understand that sentiment completely. "Yes. I knew someone was coming. Someone dangerous. I know how willing you are to throw yourself in front of me despite the fact that I can protect myself and that alone scares me. I didn't send you away because I thought you couldn't handle it, I sent you away because the thought of you jumping in front of me to protect me physically hurts me to think about. I didn't consider your feelings on the matter, in fact, I didn't care. All I did was send you away so they couldn't get you and I don't regret it."

"So this is not a real apology, just an 'I am sorry you feel this way' apology." Lee said bitterly and Gaara frowned at the tone. He didn't like Lee using such an angry tone. It didn't suit him at all.

"I know you're upset, Lee. But that isn't it either."

"So you don't want pups? When were you going to tell me?" Gaara closed his eyes in frustration.

"Lee. This isn't about that right now."

"When will it be?"

"For fucks sake, Lee." Gaara said, growing impatient. "What would it honestly matter if I didn't want pups with you? You're still my soulmate. That doesn't change. So what exactly does talking about it accomplish?" 

"If you do not mind, I would like to be alone, Kazekage-sama." Gaara bristled at that and scowled at Lee. He stood up and walked away and Lee just stared at the night sky. It was bright tonight.

***

"What are you reading, Itachi-san?" Kisame asked, walking into the room with an armful of snacks.

"Pregnancy by the week. Konan brought it to me." Itachi said quietly. "Apparently the baby is the size of a blueberry. I don't exactly understand how something so small is making me so miserable."

"I'm sorry. Anything you need?" Itachi shook his head and grabbed one of the snacks Kisame brought. "Alright, well, I'll be back later." Itachi stopped what he was doing instantly and looked up at Kisame. Kisame never saw Itachi look so wide eyed.

"You're leaving?" The sheer confusion and hurt in Itachi's voice was enough to surprise Kisame. Jesus, how did one simple question tug his heartstrings?

"I have a mission to go on. I'll only be gone a few days..." Itachi furrowed his brow and looked down at the bed in contemplation. "Itachi?"

"I'll go with you." Itachi decided and got out of the bed.

"Oh no no no." Kisame picked him up and put him back in the bed. "You'll be fine, I'll be fine, I'll be back soon."

"No. I'm going." Itachi said simply and Kisame held him in place in the bed. "You do realize this won't hold me long, right?"

"I totally realize you are only sitting there to placate me. That does not change the fact that I want you to stay here in bed." Itachi blinked.

"Why?"

"Why? Itachi, you're sick, for one. You're pregnant, second of all. And I'm just..."

"You're just what?"

"I worry about you, Itachi. Please stay here."

"I'm stronger than you are." Itachi argued and Kisame smiled at him.

"You are. And smarter too. So you should know the smart thing to do is to stay here." Kisame put the blanket over Itachi's legs. Itachi frowned and pressed his lips tightly together, looking strangely emotional. "Itachi?" The emotion was gone as quick as it came and Itachi glanced up at Kisame and sighed.

"Hurry back then." He said quietly and Kisame grinned.

"Why Itachi, I didn't know you cared." He teased and before he could pull away, Itachi leaned in and kissed his cheek, effectively wiping the grin off Kisame's face and replacing it with the smallest hint of a blush.

"I do. Be safe Kisame." Itachi's tone was back to normal, no hint of emotion what-so-ever, but his eyes were different. Kisame could always read those eyes. Kisame's lips pulled into a serious frown and he nodded his head.

"Of course, Itachi." He said quietly. "I'll be back." He promised, his eyes briefly flickering to Itachi's lips. He didn't have the courage yet, so he pulled away. "Goodbye, Itachi-san." He left and Itachi looked helplessly at the stack of snacks on his bed and sighed.

Since when did he care so much about Kisame's company that it physically pained him to see the Kiri nin go. Itachi bit his lip and wondered why he was more upset with himself for not fully kissing Kisame than he was about anything else. He glanced down and looked in the direction of where his child should be. He wondered if the baby was making him feel this way or if he always felt like this and just needed a push.

***

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke's voice was sharp and Naruto put his hands up defensively.

"I just wanted to see you, is that a problem?" He asked and Sasuke's shoulders sagged and he sighed. He just didn't want Naruto to see the compound in such disarray. What kind of alpha would he be if he couldn't keep things in order?

"No... It's just..." Sasuke trailed off and noticed Naruto was giggling. "What?" He asked sharply.

"You're nesting, aren't you?" Sasuke scowled at the question and went to deny it but when he really thought about it... yeah. He was nesting. He wanted everything cleaned and straightened out for when Naruto moved in and they had pups and-

Jesus, he was ahead of himself.

"Shut up, loser." He decided to say and looked away with a blush. Naruto laughed at him.

"No, that's fine. I'll help you. Honest. I'll even try my best to clean things." He said and crossed his heart.

"I don't trust you to clean but if you want to..." Sasuke mumbled, secretly pleased that his mate wanted to spend time with him. Even if it was just cleaning.

"Awesome. So, what are we going to clean first?"

Cleaning the compound took a while. Sasuke had been cleaning it on his downtime since he realized Naruto was his mate. He honestly didn't know why. He hadn't been to it in years but now he felt the need to. Suddenly, he was just so excited with the thought that his clan would come alive again. Wouldn't that be something?

Sasuke's thoughts moved back to his brother, this time his burning hatred was put on hold and all that was left was a strange curiosity of what his brother kept a secret from the family. And why he kept it written down in such a strange language.

"Naruto! Sasuke!" They both turned around to see Sakura running towards them. "I've been looking for you all day." Sasuke glowered, wondering why she was even here in the compound. How would she even know to look here? Sasuke was never here. Not anymore.

"What's up, Sakura?"

"The Hokage is looking for us." Naruto placed the broom against the wall and Sasuke dropped what he was doing.

"Let's go."

***

"Really? Us? Be your bodyguards?" Naruto asked with a grin. "I knew I was strong!"

"Idiot. Shut up." Sasuke grumbled but Naruto felt the affection in the words.

"Takes one to know one." Naruto said childishly and Sasuke scowled.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked and Tsunade sighed.

"To Sunagakure."

"What? Why are we going there?" Naruto asked loudly.

"Oh my god, you're at like a 17 and you should be at a two." Sasuke said and Naruto stuck out his tongue at the angry Uchiha. It was so easy to rile him up, it was hysterical.

"I need to try and heal the Kazekage." She said and Naruto's eyes widened.

"What happened to Gaara? Is he okay?" The sheer concern for the red head made Sasuke burn with jealousy that he hadn't realized why.

"Well... By all accounts, yes. Unfortunately, our friend Kabuto paid him a visit and made it... impossible for him to conceive." Tsunade said slowly with a frown. "Lee as requested my help. He offered to bring Gaara here but since Gaara was already in the hospital, I can't leave the people without their leader for a longer time and have him walk to and from the village." 

"I understand. When do we leave?" Sakura asked and Tsunade stood up.

"Tonight. Think you can be ready?" They all nodded and quickly left to get everything in order.

"Do you think the Kazekage will be happy to see you?" Shizune asked and Tsunade sighed deeply.

"That's unlikely. According to Lee, he requested this without Gaara's knowledge. I also was briefed by Shikamaru and he said that one of the things Kabuto said to Gaara was that Gaara would have to go to him to get healed. I don't like how that sounds but I'd rather not Gaara have his hands forced to going to that creep to get help. If I can heal him, the better."

"Yeah. The last thing we need is the Kazekage under Orochimaru's control." The thought of it made Tsunade sad. Her once loyal friend was causing so many issues.

"We should get Kakashi in on the mission too. He's been sitting idle for too long." Shizune nodded at that sadly.

"He's been at the cemetery a lot too."

"I can see that. His students are now old enough to mate, it probably brings back memories for him."

"It's just sad..." Shizune sighed. "Obito just transitioned. Kakashi and him just found each other and then he... he died not even an hour later." 

"I agree." Tsunade just thought about the death of her mate, Dan. That was painful, but at least she got time with him. Kakashi had no time with Obito, only the times he spent at the empty grave. "Enough of that. Please call Kakashi here. I'm going to go get my things together.

"Of course, Lady-Hokage." Shizune bowed and left the room and Tsunade had a bad feeling in her gut about what was to come. She sighed and left the room to get prepared for whatever the trip to Suna may bring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We got a lot in this chapter, didn't we?
> 
> 1) I have two names I really like for baby ItaKisa. Izumi or Akua. Let's put them to the vote! (Izumi having significance for Itachi. Akua having significance in it's meaning for both Kisame and Itachi)  
> 2) I have drawn 6 possibilities for Hidan's child. 3 with Kakuzu (and they're fucking terrifying honestly. Kakuzu is a scary lookin dude.) And 3 with Deidara (because, come on. Alpha Deidara and Omega Hidan is hysterical.) (Another thing, I can't have Deidara and Sasori have babies since Sasori... isn't really able to make babies as a puppet. Maybe later when his body is reanimated? Idk) Anyway, go to my tumblr and help vote for the future child and pairing of Hidan! (I'm in love with #6 tbh)  
> 3) What do you think Itachi has hidden in his notes? And what language do you think it's written in?  
> 4) Do you think Gaara really doesn't want children or is he just saying that as a buffer?
> 
> My tumblr!  
> https://smoresiesfanfic.tumblr.com/


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mostly the Akatsuki because I suck.
> 
>  **ItaKisa baby girl name**  
>  Akua |||||||||  
> Izumi ||||
> 
>  **Hidan's baby** :  
> 1 |||  
> 2  
> 3 ||  
> 4  
> 5  
> 6 |||||||||
> 
>  **Hidan's baby daddy**  
>  Deidara ||||||||||  
> Kakuzu ||||
> 
> **Winners**   
>  _Akua_   
>  _Baby #6_   
>  _Deidara_
> 
> Thanks for voting everyone!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Desbelleschoses** : Thanks for your votes! And your compliments! Always a pleasure!  
>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : Thank you for your votes and your thought process! I LOOOOVEEEE KISAITA I want to do nothing more than read about them and write them all day. Save me.  
>  **Bumblebees_Girl** : Thanks! I try to make everyone who is least likely to be an omega the omega. It's quite fun. Thanks for your votes!  
>  **Vivi** : Yes me too! I love omega!Hidan. It's perf. Thank you for your votes!  
>  **Killerlove80** : Thank you for voting!  
>  **oxohunnyoxo** : Aw you're welcome! Thank you for your compliments! And your votes! And that would be pretty funny I'll be sure to use it.   
> **sakaemara** : Thank you for voting! Haha if only Orochimaru could butt out of things that didn't concern him. The show would be a lot shorter!   
> **MirSama** : Thank you for voting! We will get Metal! Don't you worry!  
>  **animefanxlove** : Thank you so much! And thanks for voting. You are very right, no one has seen Lee fight but there is a plan for him to show off soon and I'm excited for it.   
> **Kuko** : Thanks for voting! No one wants Itachi to die. I'm still salty about Itachi dying. Lee will get over it. Don't you worry.  
>  **Lollipopgang71** : BITCH. HE IS NOT HAVING TRIPLETS. lmao. Can you imagine Sasuke just busting out in Italian randomly? Iconic.  
>  **That Random Weeaboo** : Imma be real with you. I haven't finished watching Naruto either. What I write is what I've been told happens and all the spoilers I read and videos I watch that summarize things up for me lol. Thanks for voting. And yea, obviously Itachi has fanfiction hidden in his room in a mystic language. Haha

Chapter Twenty-Five:

Itachi paced around his room cleaning the smallest things. He wasn't feeling very well but he felt himself get better slowly. His coughing was improving at least. Konan didn't have the doctor there in a few days so Itachi couldn't ask if anything was improving or not.

One thing Itachi noticed was how desperately he missed Kisame. It physically pained him to think about Kisame since he wasn't there. It was two days and he was going out of his mind. 

Itachi never thought of himself as a person needing company but the longer Kisame stayed away, the more frequently Itachi spent out of his room. He didn't even care at this point. Why was he hiding his pregnancy? It wasn't like they wouldn't find out eventually. So Itachi just gave up.

He certainly didn't expect a conversation to transpire between him and Deidara one day. They were both in the kitchen at the same time. Deidara absentmindedly mentioned not seeing Itachi in a while and then he paused and turned to Itachi with such a wide grin and Itachi inwardly frowned, knowing Deidara could smell he was pregnant. That meant one of two things. Either Deidara was also an omega, or he was an alpha. 

Itachi just gathered his ready-to-eat and no-cooking-necessary food and fled the kitchen before Deidara could say anything else on the matter.

Now Itachi just cleaned the smallest things in his room until he got so depressed about everything he had to leave his room again and go to Kisame's room. He knew the Kiri nin wasn't there but the smell was something that could comfort him. 

He pushed the door opened and the smell of the room instantly calmed Itachi's nerves. He was surprised to actually have been trembling since he missed Kisame so badly. It was so weird. Itachi closed the door behind him and glanced around the room. He hadn't really been in Kisame's room very often. He was surprised to see one of the sonogram pictures on Kisame's bedside. 

Itachi sat on Kisame's bed and opened his nightstand drawer and looked through it. Itachi had always been incredibly nosy, he just chalked it up to having to gather intel while he was in ANBU but honestly it was just because he was curious about everything.

There was just a bunch of junk in that drawer which Itachi was surprised about, Kisame didn't seem the type to have a junk drawer but the more Itachi paid attention to the contents, the quicker he realized it wasn't junk at all. Itachi delicately picked up each item and examined them. He knew what these were. It was a memento from each mission they'd had together. Itachi wasn't sure how he knew that but he could recognize most of these things. There were a few things he hadn't recognized.

Eventually Itachi got overwhelmed and he closed the drawer and curled up in Kisame's bed and threw the blanket over him. He was instantly at ease with being surrounded by the smell of Kisame and suddenly he was just so overcome with emotion that his eyes watered. 

Itachi frowned at the fact that he was getting so upset over nothing. Something Itachi prided himself in was the fact that he could mask his emotions very well and almost look like he was crazy. Now that he had no grip on his true emotions, he couldn't help but let them out each time he felt something. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Probably not, since in order for him to get to this point in his life he had to pretend to be a malicious psychopath. Still, he was alone in Kisame's room and he couldn't help the sobs that racked his body once he fully submitted to them. He didn't even feel like throwing up, all of his bad feelings were purely emotional. 

Eventually he cried so hard he fell asleep, comforted only by the smell of Kisame.

***

"Sheesh, what has you fuckin' sprinting?" Hidan asked dryly. "We just finished the mission, you can relax."

"I wouldn't need to be racing if you didn't need to spend all that time on your religious ritual, Hidan." Kisame said with a growl. 

"Calm yourself. Itachi is still going to be alive when you get there, for fucks sake." Hidan said with a sigh. "You're just making this mission exhausting."

"Your incessant whining is making this mission exhausting." Kisame bit back and Hidan blinked, then smirked.

"So sorry. I didn't realize how in love you were. Or whipped. One or the two." Kisame frowned but didn't retort. If he did, there would be a bigger fight and he was pretty sure Samehada could tear through Hidan fairly easily. It sounded like a pretty nice plan but that would mean he'd take even longer. Just how much did Kisame care for Itachi that he turned down a fight just to get back to him? 

About an hour into traveling Hidan began to falter. Kisame stopped unhappily and glared at the man. Hidan looked ill.

"What the fuck..." He was stumbling on his feet. "What..." He shook his head, eyes bleary.

"Hidan..." Kisame said slowly. "Were you poisoned?" 

"No..." Hidan shook his head. "Fuck!" He ran his fingers through his hair. "Shit! Fuck! Cock sucker!" He kicked the dirt under him and Kisame recoiled slightly.

"What's your problem?" He asked.

"Fucking Itachi, man!" Hidan looked seriously stressed out. "Shit!"

"What about Itachi-san?" Kisame asked with a frown.

"The fuck is pregnant! I should've been more fucking careful being around him. Damn it!"

"Did you get pregnant by osmosis? I'm not entirely sure where you're going with this." Hidan scowled at Kisame.

"Of course you wouldn't. You aren't the same race as us. Being around pregnant omegas can cause other fucking omega to go into heat. It's bullshit."

"You're... in heat?" Kisame asked slowly. No way was he fucking Hidan. Not even if Kakuzu paid him.

"Not now you fuckin' nitwit. I'm going to be. We need to get back to the hideout. Like yesterday." Kisame rolled his eyes.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you." Kisame mumbled and Hidan started to run off. Kisame stayed behind Hidan the entire time, just watching. He seemed to be going slower and he tripped a lot more. With a lot of trepidation, Kisame hoisted the man over his shoulder and ran as fast as he could. He wasn't getting stuck in the woods with Hidan in heat. He'd rather die. And if Hidan was in heat it would be nearly impossible to move him.

"Normally I'd bitch you out but I'm too fucking tired to do that now." Hidan admitted and Kisame rolled his eyes. He didn't even say anything but he could feel Hidan's temperature rise and he was burning through his cloak. 

This was going to be a long trip.

***

Kisame successfully made it back to the hideout before Hidan's heat completely struck. Right now he just wasn't feeling well but Kisame could tell that it was close. He was acting just like Itachi. 

Hidan clung onto Kisame uselessly, feeling his body completely shut down. He couldn't think he was so hot. Sweat made his clothes cling to his body like a second skin. Kisame opened Hidan's room door and laid him down.

"Anyone I can get for you?" Kisame asked awkwardly and Hidan frowned.

"Kakuzu still is on his mission, isn't he?" Kisame felt around to see if he could feel for Kakuzu's chakra but couldn't touch it.

"Feels like... Itachi, Deidara, and Konan are all here. Everyone else is gone." Hidan covered his face with a groan. 

"I'm going to fucking die." Hidan was most upset that it wouldn't even be in a fun way. He'd die of horniness. He was pretty sure that wasn't a thing but heats without someone to help you were the literal definition of hell.

"Uh, I'll send someone in to check on you soon." Hidan didn't say anything and just stared miserably at the ceiling. Kisame left the room and shook his head. He walked around, wanting to go see Itachi but also knowing he should tell someone about Hidan's state. He shouldn't be left alone like that. Kisame remembered how bad Itachi was. Hidan may be a pain in the ass but heats sucked.

"Konan." Kisame said as he walked into the kitchen. Konan sat eating with Deidara. "Uh-"

"Is someone in heat?" Konan asked with her nose crinkling.

"Yeah. Hidan is. He's almost completely in heat now. I had to carry him back. He's pretty miserable." Kisame said and Deidara blinked and looked at Konan.

"Deidara. Behave." She scolded and Deidara swallowed his bread. 

"What? I didn't say anything." He said innocently and Kisame rolled his eyes and walked out of the room and raced to Itachi's room. He opened the door and frowned to see Itachi wasn't in bed. He felt Itachi's chakra so he was here, just where?

Kisame eventually found Itachi sleeping in his bed and he couldn't wipe the grin off of his face. He walked over to the bed to look at Itachi's gorgeous sleeping form and ran his fingers through Itachi's hair. Itachi woke up slowly and blinked his eyes awake and slowly sat up in the bed with the smallest smile. Suddenly Itachi paused and he scented the air and looked at Kisame confused.

"You... smell like an omega in heat." He said and Kisame laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah, sorry, Hidan went into heat on the way back from the mission. I can go shower." Kisame offered and Itachi continued to stare at him with a look Kisame couldn't describe. "Itachi-san?"

Itachi felt like his heart broke. For Kisame to reek that badly of an in heat omega, they had to be extremely close. Had Kisame had sex with Hidan too?

"Itachi-san?" Kisame looked at him concerned. "Are you alright?" Itachi gave a forced nod and pressed his lips together tightly. Kisame raised an eyebrow but felt the need to take a shower so he didn't smell so terrible to his partner. "Okay. Well, I'll be right back."

Kisame left and Itachi felt a fresh wave of tears again. He sniffled and rubbed his face. It wasn't like he had a claim on Kisame. Kisame could do whatever he wanted to.

***

Hidan held his head in his hands and shook his head continuously as if he were arguing with his body for going into heat and the more he shook his head, the quicker the heat would be over. 

There was a knock at the door and Hidan whined. He didn't want anyone to bother him while he was miserable but the masochist in him told whoever it was to come in. 

"The fuck are you doing here, Deidara?" Hidan asked with a scowl. Deidara had a smirk on his face, his arms were crossed and he didn't have his cloak on.

"Just had to see if it was true, yeah." He said and Hidan raised an eyebrow. 

"What?" Hidan snapped.

"If you were really an omega, un." Hidan scowled. "I'm not making fun of you for it."

"Yeah?" Hidan frowned. "What the fuck do you want?" Deidara took a few steps into the room and Hidan was overwhelmed with his scent. "Since when were you a fucking alpha?"

"I've always been, my man. But you should know that one of the main things about being in the organization is to mask our scents. I got pretty good at it, un." Hidan trembled and glared at the same time. Deidara smelled fucking delicious but it was still Deidara. The kid was so damn pretentious. "You actually smell good, yeah..." Deidara whispered and Hidan had bumps on his skin. 

"I always thought you'd be an omega." Hidan grunted, trying to instigate Deidara and hold himself up better than he was right now. He was floundering.

"And I thought you'd be an alpha. But here we are." Deidara was standing right next to the bed and Hidan hated it. But Deidara did smell so good. "You're almost there, aren't you, un? I can smell it." Hidan's breathing was erratic and he clenched his fists so tight and cursed Kakuzu in his head for not being here right now. As much as the two argued, they did have a deal that if Hidan was ever in heat, Kakuzu would help him. The fuck had to be on a damn mission with Sasori right now though making this very impossible.

"Fuck you." Hidan said through clenched teeth. Deidara's smirk turned sinister and Hidan felt his last threads of sanity slip away and he was in full blown heat.

"Fuck me? Is that something you want?" Deidara teased and Hidan's defiant expression melted away and all that was left was a look of longing. 

"Yes." Deidara shivered as the sweet scent rolled off from Hidan. "Please."

"You're so polite in heat, Hidan. I should keep you like this." Hidan whined and kicked his pants off quickly. He felt like he'd burn alive if he continued to wear clothes. He already soaked through his pants with his slick and Deidara's eyes glazed over with lust just on smelling Hidan with no hindrance. 

"Deidara." Hidan's voice was low. "If you don't fuck me right now, I swear... I'll do something and I can't fucking think of what." Hidan's voice was whiny by the end of his sentence and Deidara chuckled and kicked his shoes off and pulled his clothes off. Hidan looked at Deidara's naked body with an aching feel of need in the put of his stomach. Deidara was smaller than he was. Hidan was at a loss. He wanted nothing more than to be fucked by Deidara and his knot but he also wanted to bend Deidara over the bed and fuck him that way too. 

Deidara got on the bed and there wasn't any foreplay whatsoever. There wasn't any kissing. It was just sex. Deidara had Hidan on all fours and Hidan cried out when Deidara first pushed himself inside. Hidan couldn't remember the last time he was taken this way. Even though he was an omega, he found it fairly easy to pretend to be a beta and after that, all doors were open. He topped a good 95% of the time. Something about being in this humiliating position having someone he really didn't fucking like pounding into him really made him feel strange. Strange in a way that he came with some of the most powerful orgasms he'd ever had. 

"Oh fuck! Deidara!" He whined and Deidara grabbed Hidan by the hair and yanked him up. Hidan could feel the mouths on Deidara's hands lick his neck and shivered. Deidara was still rolling his hips up and Hidan was weak from his released but Deidara was being relentless, not that Hidan minded much. He hadn't had sex in quite some time so it was nice to actually feel this way again. He shivered at each touch and Deidara leaned in to lick up Hidan's neck and Hidan bucked his hip back against Deidara. The omega part of him wanted Deidara to bite down and claim him. He wanted to feel completely dominated. 

Deidara's left hand reached down between Hidan's legs and Hidan felt the tongue lick his all-too-sensitive cock while Deidara roughly fucked him from behind. 

"You're trembling." Deidara whispered against Hidan's shoulder while he held Hidan up by his neck and jaw with his right hand. "Did you want to stop?" Deidara teased.

"No." Hidan whined and Deidara smirked and forcefully shoved Hidan back down into the pillows to bring his hips up at a different angle. 

"Good because I haven't knotted you yet. And I plan on doing that. Several times." Hidan moaned and felt himself harden again and wanted nothing more than Deidara's hand back on his cock. It didn't take long for Deidara to do it on his own and when Hidan felt the tongue lick his hardened length, he moaned loudly into the pillows. He felt the swell of Deidara's cock and gripped the bed sheets beneath him tightly at the stretching pain he felt shoot up his backside. 

Deidara knotted him with a whine and a grunt, still hovering over Hidan's body. Hidan came shortly after by Deidara's hand and felt even more sensitive now than he did before. He wondered how long Deidara would stay with him and found himself hoping he'd be there the entire time. 

***

"Alright, Itachi-san I'm-" Kisame paused when he walked into his room to see it empty. He frowned but went to Itachi's room and Itachi was curled up on his bed. "Itachi-san! There you are." Kisame said smiling and closed the door behind him. He walked over to the bed and Itachi stayed looking away from Kisame. "Itachi-san?"

"Go away, Kisame." Itachi said hollowly.

"What? No." Kisame said with a frown. "What's wrong? You seem upset."

"I'm fine. I just want to be left alone. I don't want to be near you right now." As much as that stung, Kisame stood his ground.

"Yeah? Is that why I found you in my bed before? Because you don't want me around?" Kisame tried and Itachi grunted and didn't say anything more. "Itachi-san, what's wrong? I got back here as fast as I could to make sure you were alright and clearly you're not."

"As fast as you could?" Itachi's irritability spiked quickly. "And exactly how fast was that?"

"Well..." Kisame started. "Slower than I would've liked because of Hidan but still made it back a half a day before we meant to."

"Yeah." Itachi scowled at the thought of Kisame and Hidan.

"Seriously, what's bothering you?" Kisame asked and Itachi shook his head. Kisame finally relented. "Fine. I'll come back later." Kisame sighed and left the room and Itachi watched the door feeling angry. Did Kisame leave to go be with Hidan? Was Itachi only good for him when he was in heat? Itachi never felt so angry before. He huffed and tried his best to take a nap.

He found he quite missed the way Kisame smelled and he missed being able to hide these ridiculous emotions.

***

"Here we are." Tsunade said with a sigh. They made it to the gate. They were welcomed in and surprised to see Lee standing there to greet them.

"Hello." He didn't look like the happy excitable Lee everyone knew. He looked broken. Sasuke frowned. Was this what happened since Kabuto made his mate infertile? Was it that depressing on the prospect of not having pups? Sasuke would rather not deal with that personally and hoped something like that wouldn't happen to him.

"Hokage-sama." Lee bowed deeply. "Thank you for making time to come all this way for us." He said and she gave him her best smile which wasn't much but she hoped it was reassuring in the slightest.

"We'll try to fix your mate for you, Lee. We promise." Sakura said and Lee sniffled and nodded again. He turned around and had them follow him to the house.

When they walked in, Ino and Shikamaru looked surprised to see the Hokage in the living room. Ino and Shikamaru quickly raised to bow their respect to their Hokage and she greeted them. Kankuro and Temari also stood up and bowed.

"Where's Gaara?" Tsunade asked and Ino frowned.

"I'll go with you." She offered and Sakura raised an eyebrow but followed Ino up the stairs. Sakura watched with curiosity as Ino softly knocked on a door and opened it. "Gaara, honey, we have company." She said soothingly and Gaara nodded. Sakura found it strange that Ino called Gaara "honey" and even more so that Gaara accepted it as if it were normal. Sakura supposed it was normal to them which was even more strange. She didn't think out of everyone, Ino would befriend the Kazekage.

"Hokage-sama, I am surprised by your presence. Why are you here? Is something wrong?" Gaara asked and Tsunade gave him a look.

"You know why I'm here." She said quietly and Gaara's hand instantly held his abdomen. Tsunade nodded and Gaara sighed.

"I told Lee-"

"Please. He's worried about you." Gaara frowned and went to say something, probably rude about his mate, but stopped when Ino put her hand on his shoulder.

This was shocking for several reasons. One of them being that the sand blocked all contact from everyone but his mate. This meant he trusted Ino enough that his defense that he had at all times, didn't sense her as a threat and allowed her to touch him. The fact that he trusted her that much was amazing in its own right. 

"Come on, Gaara. They came all the way here." She coaxed and Sakura frowned. Why didn't Ino use the proper –sama when addressing the Kazekage? Wasn't that incredibly rude?

"Yes. You're right, I suppose, Ino." He said with a resigned sigh. "Okay. Let's get this checked out." He said and led them to his bedroom so he could lay down. 

Tsunade really hoped there was something she could do to fix him. If not, this whole mission was for naught and Gaara would have to see Kabuto if he wanted to be healed, and that's even if Kabuto actually knew how to heal him which she found to be unlikely.

Their saving grace with running tests was that Ino stayed in the room and sat by Gaara's head. For whatever reason this put his body in a relaxed enough state to coax his sand to not interfere with their tests. Sakura kept glancing warily at Ino wondering how he managed to get close to the Kazekage without a bond. She assumed Gaara would only allow Lee's company since they were bonded. She supposed that was wrong of her to think, Gaara could bond with friends too, it just seemed so abnormal to her.

Lee eventually came to join them in the room, but stood at the door not wanting to disturb the process. 

"Do you want to come in, Lee?" Tsunade asked after a few moments.

"No it is okay. I do not want to get in your way. I just wanted to see if Gaara was alright." Lee said quietly.

"He's as good as he can be under the circumstances." Tsunade said and Ino motioned for Lee to come over. Lee nervously walked over to his mate and Ino stood up and let Lee sit down next to Gaara. Gaara opened his eyes and looked up at Lee. Lee reached his arm towards Gaara to move his hair out of his eyes and Gaara slowly leaned into the touch and Lee smiled softly at his mate.

"I love you." Lee whispered and Gaara nodded.

"I know." Lee smiled. Gaara hadn't really said 'I love you too' to him but Lee knew that was his own way of saying it so it was good enough for him. Gaara reached his hand over and held Lee's hand tightly and Lee couldn't help but grin. It was nice to interact with his mate after all this time. Being angry at each other was exhausting. This was like a reset. His body felt better now. "What if they can't fix me?" Gaara asked quietly and Lee sighed and played with Gaara's hair.

"There's always adoption if we want kids down the road." Lee said honestly and Gaara looked up at him and smiled.

***

"I have no idea." Tsunade said with a sigh. "I can tell he's infertile, but I don't know why. I would have to do more tests-"

"It's okay." Gaara said and sat up. "I'm not worried about it. You came all this way, I couldn't ask you for more than that. Feel free to stay as long as you'd like to rest up. You have my shinobi at your disposal." Gaara inclined his head.

"I thank you, Gaara, but I will run a few more tests while I'm here. But I am rather hungry." She looked at Ino. "Think you can show me where has good food here?" Ino smiled and nodded.

"Sure. Would you two like anything?" Ino asked and Gaara shook his head. "Are you sure, Gaara?"

"Yes. Thank you, Ino. Would you like something, Lee?" Lee smiled sheepishly.

"Whatever you get is fine with me." Gaara bit back a smirk. His mate was a bottomless pit. He wasn't surprised Lee took them up on the offer. "Thank you very much."

The three women left the room and Gaara looked to his mate.

"Did you mean what you said?" Gaara asked awkwardly and Lee smiled at Gaara and kissed his cheek.

"I love you very much, Gaara. You not being able to have pups does not change that. If you do not want children, I cannot force you to, I want anything you want to give me. I am thankful for you and if you decide you want children, I said it before, there is always adoption." Gaara hugged Lee.

"Thank you." He whispered and Lee held Gaara tightly.

***

"So Ino, I'm curious." Sakura said randomly and Tsunade threw Sakura a glance. "Why don't you call him Gaara-sama?"

"I'm not allowed to." Ino said simply. "He hates being referred to as sama. He gets super annoyed when people do it." 

"Really? Why? He earned the title." Sakura said, clearly not understanding.

"He's an omega." Tsunade stated. "He's probably just uncomfortable with people giving him so much respect as an omega. Most omega are like that. It's just interesting to see Gaara show actual signs of being one."

"I keep forgetting he's an omega." Sakura admitted. "He just holds himself like an alpha."

"Yeah. I forget too and I live with him. He's super poised all the time. He's pretty funny."

"Did you just... refer to Gaara as funny?"

"Yeah. He makes Kankuro's life hell. It's hysterical." Ino said smiling. "Sometimes he does it just because I tell him Kankuro is annoying me. So he'll demand Kankuro go on this important mission and he hypes it up and all it is, is to go get a document from across town or something. Kankuro falls for it every time."

"How is it living here?" Tsunade asked.

"It's hot. Gross. I miss home, but the company is nice. Gaara and his siblings are really cool." The more Ino talked about Gaara, the more confused Sakura got. It was strange to have a notion of someone only to have it destroyed. She never would've thought that Gaara could be anything more than emotionless. It was something to consider.

***

"I can't believe they don't have ramen here." Naruto said with his arms crossed. "I'll die, Sasuke. I will literally die."

"I don't doubt it. I'm positive your body is at least 12% ramen." Sasuke said simply. The two sat on the roof of Gaara's home and looked at the desert landscape. It was actually quite beautiful in its own way. 

"Only 12? I can beat that." Naruto said simply.

"Hey Naruto." Naruto glanced over at Sasuke.

"What?"

"Do you want pups?" Sasuke asked and Naruto's face heated up.

"W-what?"

"Not now, idiot. I mean eventually. Is that something you want?"

"Why are you asking me this?" Naruto was flushed he was so embarrassed.

"Naruto, I don't know if you knew this..." Sasuke started flatly. "But we're soulmates. I feel as though I can ask you a simple question without you getting upset."

"I'm not upset! I'm just... I always... I thought..."

"You thought you wouldn't be the pregnant one?" Sasuke offered and Naruto nodded his head slowly. 

"What about you? Do you want them? And if you had to be the pregnant one, would you still want them?"

"I do. I wanted to preserve even just a small part of my clan. Even if I had to carry that child I would." Sasuke admitted. "Our kid would be so powerful though." He pondered out loud. "Uzumakis are known for their chakra reserves. Imagine that with a sharingan?" Naruto let himself be amazed by the prospect. It was a pretty cool thought after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyy like I said, sorry this centered around the Akatsuki (no I'm not that was a filthy lie.)
> 
> 1) It is possible for me to make Hidan also sleep with Kakuzu and have twins. Would y'all want that or should he mate with Deidara?  
> 2) No one guessed the right language that Itachi's notes are in! If someone guesses the right language (just one vote) I'll let you pick my next story (I'm positive no one will guess)  
> 3) I know we were robbed of the GaaLee fight at the beginning which showed everyone how badass Lee was so I'd like to give Lee another chance at absolutely demolishing someone. Care to guess who it is?  
> 4) How long do you think this KisaIta misunderstanding will last? Who do you think will cave first?
> 
> Alright! If you like to see pictures, I do draw these guys often. I have more pictures with my darling Akatsuki members on my tumblr.
> 
> Also, I published a new story I'm writing with **Lollipopgang71** and it centers around the Akatsuki. The title is  Bad Romance please check it out and let us know how you like it so far!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Leave me some love!


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vote Results!  
>  **Should Hidan sleep with Kakuzu (and potentially have babies)?**  
>  Yes |||||||  
> No||  
> Indifferent|
> 
> **Result**   
>  _Yes_
> 
> We got some Hidan/Kakuzu smut this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **oxohunnyoxo** : Aw I'm glad because I prefer writing them right now Idfk what's going on with Gaara and Lee. They won't be interesting until the fight scene that idk when it's coming up. You were actually the closest to the real answer but still wrong.   
> **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : Eyyyy (I really like the dynamic of HidanKakuzu HidanDeidara but all at the same time because I'm a ho I guess idfk) Thank you for giving into my vices lmao  
>  **MirSama** : Right tho?? I'm not sure if he's going to mate with anyone though! (Maybe he can be the first to mate with two people...? idk)  
>  **Vivi** : I'm glad you feel that way! Thank you!  
>  **That Random Weeaboo** : I'm sorry but you were outvoted, my friend, I hope you don't mind the dynamic of the story from here on (I say that like Hidan is the main character of the story lmao)   
> **Kuko** : Me too~! I love my babies. I mean, to be fair, Hidan probably doesn't consider Kisame attractive at all either lmao.   
> **animefanxlove** : Yassss. Babies, I can't wait for the babies to be born <3 (writing a pregnant Hidan tho will be funny AF)  
>  **Bumblebees_Girl** : I'm pleased to read you remembered that! I wrote that so long ago! (I think septemberish?) I dragged it out to a week for you. But Konan didn't fix it. Kakuzu did XD  
>  **sakeamara** : Let me tell you something, there have been so many votes I've absolutely hated the result of and I still write it because I'm trying to please as many people as possible. It destroyed my very soul in Mama to pair Itachi with Deidara but I did it anyway lmao (I'm actually dying inside. It's fine.) I'm sorry your vote lost, I hope you don't hate the story from here on out, but I'll try to contain Hidan's "man-whore" tendencies (I wanted him to mate with Deidara too so... :c)  
>  **Orcana** : WELL BISH, DO I GOT THE CHAPTER FOR YOU! This chapter has some HidanKakuzu smut. Enjoy <3 And we have some nice KisaIta moments. ugh this chapter is life.  
>  **Narutard** : Aw I'm so glad to hear that! One of the main molds I wanted to break was that omega are weak and the more feminine characters are omega. (Which is why everyone who you'd expect to be an alpha is an omega... well not everyone but a lot of them) As fun as that sounds, I don't think all of my readers would like it (I'd read the shit out of that story tho. I'm down for slutty Hidan.) And Konan is an omega in this story, alpha females can have penises, not omega! I love Lee and Gaara's dynamic. It makes the story special. I would LOVEEE KakaGai but I lost that vote. If I picked anyone for Kakashi to be with, the vote was... Yamato? Iruka? I can't remember. But I was saddened (KakaGai is one of my OTPs) anO/O pairing? Interesting! I'll have to figure that one out! Ino is a Beta! ... I forgot Chouji existed (I'M SO SORRY CHOUJI) I'm glad you enjoy the story and I hope you continue to.

Chapter Twenty-Six:

Kisame was officially confused to all hell. He tried twice to talk to Itachi and Itachi just forcefully removed him from the room and slammed the door shut. Being frustrated, he assumed Itachi was like that with everyone so asked Konan to check on him. Itachi let Konan in the room and she's been in there ever since!

What the hell?!

Kisame was chipping his nail polish but gnawing on his nails, just so overwhelmed with anxiety at the prospect of not being able to see Itachi. He was going insane. Itachi was right there! He was so close! And Kisame couldn't even touch him.

Kisame was pacing so much he had to leave the hideout in order to take in some fresh air. He just couldn't stand being right next to Itachi's door and not by Itachi's side. It broke his heart.

He wasn't sure how long he was moping outside, but suddenly he saw figures come into his line of sight. He glanced up and narrowed his eyes. Sasori and Kakuzu were back. Huh, he wondered how they would take it knowing their partners were literally in the process of making babies and had been for well over a day. How they had enough energy to do so, Kisame wasn't sure. When Itachi was in heat, Kisame was a zombie. It was almost painful to have sex with him at the end because he was so sore. He didn't have everything equip as the A/B/O's so he wasn't able to keep up with it. Usually an Omega and an alpha mated when the Omega went into heat which would trigger the alpha's rut and therefore make it so it was an equal amount of... horniness? Was that a way to put it?

"Hello, Kisame." Sasori greeted politely.

"Hey, how did the mission go?" Kisame asked, honestly not giving two shits but he decided to play nice.

"Well, it was a bounty so it paid well so Kakuzu is happy." Sasori said simply and Kakuzu nodded slightly. "Why are you outside?" Kisame could tell the truth, that he was moping but he doubted they actually cared so chose a funnier route.

"Oh I'm just tired of listening to Deidara and Hidan." He had to bite back a smirk. Sasori rolled his eyes and Kakuzu sighed.

"They fighting that bad?" Kisame shook his head and that caused Sasori to look at him with a curious glance.

"No they've been... uh, fucking for like over a day now." Kisame said pleasantly and the look of shock on Sasori's face was hysterical. Even Kakuzu's eyes widened.

"Um. Why?" Sasori asked once he could form words again.

"Hidan is in heat. Deidara is weak." Kisame shrugged.

"Hidan is in heat?" Kakuzu pushed his eyebrows together and Kisame nodded. Kakuzu briskly walked away and Sasori watched him with a sigh and shook his head. 

"I have to see this." He admitted and Kisame grinned and jumped up. He was curious what Kakuzu would even say to Hidan. As far as he knew, the two of them didn't get along. 

They trailed after Kakuzu who seemed to be walking with purpose and once they made it to Hidan's room door, Kakuzu slammed the door opened. Sasori thanked the gods that he was actually a puppet and couldn't smell anything and Kisame's nose, although it was less sensitive than anyone of the ABO race, twitched at the stench of sex. 

"Oh look who the fuck decided to show up." Kisame heard Hidan's irritated voice say.

"What the fuck are you doing, Hidan?"

"I'm fucking Deidara, as I have been for... however long we've been fucking." Kakuzu turned his head to see Kisame and Sasori standing there with innocent smiles and he slammed the door in their face. Sasori sighed and tried to listen in through the door. Kisame also attempted but found their doors were rather sound proof, surprisingly.

"I don't understand why I'm not allowed in there. Deidara is my partner." Sasori muttered irritably. 

"Maybe you should be thankful. We don't know what Kakuzu walked in on." Kisame pointed out and Sasori shrugged and sighed.

Kisame walked down the hall to be met with Konan. She raised her eyebrow at him and he dropped to his knees in front of her and grabbed her hands.

"Please tell me what's wrong with Itachi." If he thought she looked surprised before, she was downright gobsmacked at the fact that Kisame was on his knees begging.

"He didn't tell me. He just wanted company." She finally said and Kisame jumped back up onto his feet, now dwarfing the poor girl.

"What!? I'll give him company." He said slightly irritated. "He won't let me."

"He's pregnant, Kisame. He doesn't know what he wants. Just give him some space." Kisame clenched his teeth and stared at the door. His shoulders sagged and he nodded and walked to his own room. Konan watched him walk away with a frown. 

***

Kakuzu was lucky enough to catch Hidan in a moment of fluidity so he was actually able to speak with Hidan instead of the in heat omega. Deidara oddly didn't seem too bothered by it. They were both sitting on the bed naked. Kakuzu could tell they just finished having sex not too long ago. He may be a beta but he had a working nose. 

"Deidara, why don't you go eat something." Deidara nodded and hopped off the bed and pulled his clothes on, leaving and closing the door behind him. Kakuzu stood by the door with crossed arms as if he were Hidan's parent and found Hidan having sex at a young age. "I thought I would help you with your heats." He said and Hidan scoffed loudly.

"Fuckin' seriously? You wanted me to wait over 24 hours for you to bring you decrepit old ass here?" Kakuzu scowled under his mask and Hidan could tell. It was rather exciting, honestly. "Why, Kakuzu? Did you want to fuck me finally?" Hidan gave him a lazy grin. Kakuzu glared at him but didn't respond. "Are you going to answer me?"

"I think I would like it better for your heat to kick in and have you beg, honestly. It would be my entertainment for the rest of my life. Hearing you beg me to fuck you like any other omega slut." The comment infuriated Hidan. He wasn't an omega slut. He slept with people, yeah but he didn't bottom for anyone besides Deidara. And if he could choose, he would've been on top dominating Deidara instead. He'd have to remember that for when he was out of his heat and could even think about mounting someone. 

"Fuck you, Kakuzu." Hidan said with a growl. "In case you didn't realize, but I have Deidara helping me." Kakuzu's smirk widened on his face and Hidan could tell by the crinkles at the corner of his eyes. 

"Oh? Where is he now?" Almost as if it were on cue, Hidan's body trembled and he shivered, goosebumps appearing all over his body. The heat was back and he felt like he was on fire. It lasted only for a few seconds and after he looked at Kakuzu and Kakuzu knew what he wanted, but didn't move towards him at all. "Well, if that's all, I'm going to leave-"

"Kakuzu." Hidan's voice was low and whiny. "Don't you dare fucking go." Kakuzu raised an eyebrow and turned back to Hidan.

"Why is that, zealot?" He asked flatly.

"Fuck, Kakuzu, I need you."

"I thought you had Deidara." Kakuzu said as evenly as possible. He shouldn't be enjoying this as much as he was.

"He's not here and I want you." Hidan said and Kakuzu frowned at the whine again. 

"Don't act like a child, it isn't becoming of you." Kakuzu scolded, Hidan rolled his eyes.

"Yes, daddy." Kakuzu stiffened where he stood and turned to face Hidan.

"What did you just say?" Hidan seemed to understand, even through his fogged mind. He grinned.

"Yes, daddy?" Hidan repeated and gave Kakuzu a lecherous look. Kakuzu blinked and controlled himself. He shook his head and took a step to the bed and before Hidan knew it, he was bound by Kakuzu's threads. His hands were behind his back and his ankles were tied together. Kakuzu pushed Hidan face first into the mattress and Hidan tilted his head so he could see Kakuzu's expression as his hands ran up and down Hidan's body. 

The bed was pretty damp with fluids and at this point, Kakuzu didn't seem to care. Hidan watched him as he began undoing his pants just enough to pull his cock out and Hidan felt himself lick his lips but honestly had no control over the motion. Kakuzu was huge. Hidan wished he could move but the threads oddly kept him situated right where he was. Face smooshed into the mattress and his ass in the air. Kakuzu seemed to be enjoying the view. 

"Take off your mask." Hidan said almost too quietly to hear. Kakuzu paused, not knowing exactly what he should do but relented and took his mask off and let his hair fall down over his shoulders. Hidan's eyes widened at the sight. Who would've thought that after all this time of calling his partner old and ugly he would actually be (very) ruggedly sexy. 

Kakuzu got on the bed and Hidan wanted to mention that he was still fully clothed but he didn't have the time. Kakuzu decided he wanted Hidan on his back so flipped him over. He put Hidan's legs on one shoulder, considering they were still tied together. His hands roughly grabbed Hidan's ass and he pulled Hidan's cheeks apart and saw how wet he was. Kakuzu looked up at Hidan to maintain eye contact with his partner as he took him. He wanted to see Hidan's face to save it to his memory just for the fact that now he would have a memory of him absolutely dominating Hidan and that alone made him want to chuckle with amusement. Hidan was always adamant on not being on bottom and look at him now, his eyes were practically begging for it.

Kakuzu sank his cock into the warm wetness of Hidan's hole. It wasn't as tight as it would normally be, Kakuzu wasn't expecting such, especially since Hidan had been having sex all day. That didn't mean he wasn't tight.

Hidan opened his mouth to say something and Kakuzu covered his mouth and nose with his hand. Hidan whined behind Kakuzu's hand but couldn't do anything to move it so just glared as best as he could. It wasn't that easy considering whatever Kakuzu did made Hidan burn with lust. Just seeing his partner with these expressions on his face was enough to stop Hidan mid-sentence. He never thought he would actually be having sex with Kakuzu but he couldn't complain, honestly. Plus, it would be nice to have sex without being knotted. After a while a knot really hurt. 

For now, Hidan just let himself live in the moment.

And it was a great moment.

***

"I'm really sorry I couldn't provide more help." Tsunade said as everyone packed up to go back to the leaf village. Gaara shrugged his shoulders.

"There wasn't much you could do not knowing what Kabuto did to cause this. Thank you for staying here for two days and trying though. Suna will not forget your kindness." Tsunade didn't want to accept that Gaara was okay with the end result. It just didn't make sense but he honestly didn't look too torn up about it. Lee looked okay now too. 

"Thank you for your hospitality, Gaara." He nodded at her and she turned her head. "Is everyone ready to go?" There was a collective murmur of yes's and Ino and Shikamaru looked rather bummed to be leaving. 

Sakura observed with interest when she saw the kind of hug Kankuro gave Ino. It was more than a friend hug, for sure.

Shikamaru didn't hug Temari, Temari hugged him though and he just looked embarrassed at the notion and they promised to visit. Gaara looked at his two new friends from the leaf village and felt a pang of loss at their departure. The first time he saw Ino at the chunnin exams, he wouldn't have assumed him and her would become friends, but there they were, friends. And he would miss her. Also, Shikamaru was a fantastic person to have around with his brain and witty comments. He held these two in high regards and hoped they would progress in their shinobi career. They were excellent ninja, after all.

"Goodbye Temari!" Ino hugged Temari tightly then turned to Lee. "You too, Lee." She hugged him and he was saddened by her leaving. Shikamaru gave Lee and Kankuro a handshake. Ino stood in front of Gaara with a pout on her lips. She really liked Kankuro, but she may just miss Gaara the most. "I'll write you." She promised quietly and Gaara's lips twitched up slightly in a smile.

"I look forward to your letters, Ino." He said softly and she hugged him tightly. 

"Don't get hurt while I'm gone. I can't protect you now." Gaara wanted to laugh at that comment but didn't. He returned the hug, albeit awkwardly. 

"Same goes for you, Ino." Ino gave him one last look and had to leave the house before she got too emotional. Shikamaru shook Gaara's hand and gave him a farewell smile. Sasuke and Naruto were already walking around somewhere so they weren't around. Gaara would've loved to walk them to the gates but he had a council meeting so sent Lee to be their guide instead. He gave them one last glance before he jumped away to his office.

***

During one of the camp sessions on their way back, Sasuke couldn't get the symbols from Itachi's journal out of his mind. There was one in particular that stood out amongst the rest. It was written quite a few times. Sasuke stared at the dirt beneath him and absentmindedly started to write in the dirt. He was fairly certain that was the combination of letters from his brother's notes.

"You too?" Kakashi asked from behind him. Sasuke was adamant about proving that didn't startle him by clenching his teeth tightly and keeping his body in place.

"What do you mean by that?" Sasuke asked, trying not to let his irritation from being alarmed at Kakashi's sudden presence. He hadn't seen much of his sensei on this mission despite working it together.

"Itachi knew the language too. Must be an Uchiha thing or something." Sasuke's back straightened up and he looked at Kakashi.

"You know of my brother?" Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow.

"I thought you knew we were in ANBU together." Kakashi admitted and realization dawned on Sasuke. That's right. How could he forget Itachi was friends with Kakashi? Sasuke changed his expression to indifference.

"So you know what language this is." Sasuke said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Kakashi chuckled and sat down next to Sasuke.

"Yeah. It's the reason everyone called Itachi an angel." Sasuke frowned at that. His brother was anything but an angel now, Sasuke loathed to admit it, but once upon a time his brother had been the kindest, most compassionate person he knew. It didn't surprise him all that time ago Itachi was known by angel. Still, it didn't make sense to him. What did angels have to do with anything? Sasuke continued to stare expectantly at Kakashi. Kakashi seemed to take the bait and rolled his eyes. "It's Enochian, the angel language. You wrote your name." Kakashi pointed out and Sasuke glanced back down at the dirt. His name? 

"Can you read Enochian?" Sasuke asked and Kakashi shrugged.

"A bit, I guess. Itachi tried to teach me a few words but I wasn't interested at the time. In hindsight I should've taken those lessons. Perhaps you can give me some?" If Kakashi was baiting him, he pretended not to understand.

"Tch, I don't have time to teach you Enochian." Sasuke said as arrogantly as he could. Kakashi smiled at him.

"Too bad. I guess I'll have to find some books on it in the Uchiha library." Kakashi stood up and walked away. Whether he knew he planted a seed in Sasuke's mind was undetermined but Sasuke had never felt more thankful for his sensei than he did right then.

He couldn't get home fast enough.

***

Kisame was so bored out of his mind. It only made it worse that there were absolutely no missions and it was day 5 of Hidan's heat. Jesus, how long could these things last? And why had Itachi's only lasted 3 days? Which one was normal?

Lounging in the common area, eating some fish, he noticed Kakuzu walk in looking slightly worse for wear. Kisame perked an eyebrow and Kakuzu sat down across from the kiri nin with his own food in hand.

"Having fun?" Kakuzu blinked several times.

"I'm fucking exhausted. I have no idea how Hidan is still awake." He admitted and Kisame was surprised with the honesty. 

"If he's still up, how are you here?" Kakuzu leaned back in his chair slightly, wincing at something. 

"Deidara is with him now." Kisame made a thoughtful expression.

"So he needs two people for his heat? That sounds..."

"Like a pain in the ass?" Kakuzu offered dryly and Kisame chuckled at the double entendre. 

"I was going to say excessive, but yeah, I thought you people were weird and territorial with omega though." Kisame said as he ate his food. Kakuzu shrugged his shoulders.

"Not to be dramatic, but I'd rather die than mate with Hidan." Kisame laughed at that. At least they shared the sentiment. "As for Deidara, I have no idea. It depends on the moment you catch him in. Sometimes he seems... possessive. Other times he couldn't give less of a shit."

"Ah. Well, that's interesting to know. I learned something today."

"What about you? How's Itachi holding up?" Kisame visibly sunk in his chair. Right. Itachi. It was almost a week of being ignored by Itachi and he felt like he was slowly dying. How he managed to survive the 11 ½ years on Earth without Itachi being born was beyond him.

"He seems to be angry with me and I'm unsure why." Kakuzu stared at Kisame for a few seconds, unsure if he should humor his fellow Akatsuki member or not. He decided he was tired enough to where he was feeling generously unlike himself.

"Well, what happened?" Kisame seemed surprised at the question. Kakuzu smirked under his mask, seems that he caught the guy off guard by actually acting like he gave a shit.

"Uh, well, I'm not sure. I had a mission with Hidan. Hidan went into heat and I carried him back here, Itachi was in my room, he said I smelled like Hidan, I apologized, told him Hidan went into heat and went to take a shower and came back and he was in his own room and wouldn't talk to me anymore." Kakuzu stared at Kisame as if he were the dumbest person he'd ever met, which was saying something because Hidan was pretty special. "What?"

"Are you serious right now?" Kakuzu's dry tone grated on Kisame's nerves. 

"Yes." Kisame glared back at Kakuzu and Kakuzu shook his head. "What?"

"You're an idiot." Kakuzu decided he was done being nice and stood up from his seat. He refused to believe Kisame had no idea what was running through a pregnant omega's mind when their sort of mate came home smelling like another omega in heat. It was just too stupid.

"What?" Kisame stood up. "Do you have an idea of why he's upset from that story?" Kakuzu debated telling Kisame, just because he was irritated with how dumb he was. In the end he looked back at Kisame.

"You came home smelling like an omega in heat and you wonder why Itachi is angry at you?" Kakuzu said slowly. "Use your brain, you moron." He left the room and apprehension showed on Kisame's face seconds later.

As Kakuzu was walking down the hall, he was almost knocked over by Kisame running at full speed down the hallway. He shook his head.

***

Itachi didn't know how long he was in his bedroom for doing absolutely nothing. Konan would come every once in a while to provide company and bring him food. Other than that, he smelled for Kisame so he wouldn't run into him while he went out to grab something to eat. For the most part it was okay but since there weren't any missions to be given away, Itachi was thrumming with anxiety. Kisame was so close to him and he was still so upset.

What irritated him the most was the fact that Kisame didn't even apologize! He was acting as if Itachi was the crazy one. Itachi scoffed and suddenly his door burst open and he jumped. Kisame usually couldn't catch him off guard, no one could, but in the moment, submerged in his own thoughts, he hadn't realized Kisame's scent was getting stronger.

Kisame walked into the room and closed the door with a loud thud and walked to Itachi's bedside and knelt by the bed.

"What do you want, Kisame?" Itachi asked with a sigh.

"To apologize." Itachi frowned, the apology wouldn't really work at this point. He didn't even think it would work before, it was the principle of the matter. "For this terrible misunderstanding."

"...what?" Itachi pushed his eyebrows together in confusion.

"Itachi-san, I didn't realize until Kakuzu pointed it out what it must've been like for you when I came in smelling like Hidan. Let me explain what happened better. At the end of the mission, we were on our way back to base and Hidan started to feel ill. He said it was your fault since you're pregnant and apparently that triggers heats in omega. We tried to rush back but Hidan couldn't keep up so I threw him over my shoulder and raced here as fast as I could and threw him in his room where Deidara and Kakuzu have been keeping him company ever since." Itachi blinked owlishly at Kisame, his eyes were so large and pretty. "If I realized why you were so upset to begin with, I would've told you before. But I honestly had no idea. It wouldn't even cross my mind to sleep with him. You couldn't pay me." As if to prove a point, his body let out an involuntary shutter. 

"...You didn't sleep with Hidan?" Itachi asked levelly. He seemed to be speaking like the old Itachi again. Calm and collected.

"No." Itachi stared at Kisame for a moment and like getting hit in the face, he covered his mouth to stifle the sob that came out of nowhere and suddenly Itachi was crying and Kisame didn't know what to do. He pulled Itachi in for a hug and Itachi leaned into it and just cried. He never saw Itachi like this and seeing it made him feel uncomfortable and oddly weak. 

"Itachi-san, it's okay." Kisame rubbed his back and climbed into the bed with his partner. 

Kisame then realized something. If Itachi was this upset at the prospect of Kisame sleeping with someone else... were they more than just partners? Were they more than eventual co-parents? Exactly how did Itachi feel about him? Was there more this entire time and Kisame was too blind to see it? Kisame had so many questions but was unable to ask a single one of them. He just wanted to hold Itachi tightly and make up for lost time.

Itachi cried for a solid 15 minutes before he calmed down enough to compose himself and become embarrassed for losing control that much. 

"I'm so sorry. I-I don't know what got into me." Itachi was wiping his face which was now red from tears and embarrassment.

"Itachi-san?" Itachi looked up at Kisame with his large now bloodshot eyes, tousled hair, chapped lips, flushed cheeks and in that moment Kisame never saw Itachi look more beautiful. This was more raw emotion than he'd ever seen from Itachi and he wanted to treasure it. He cupped Itachi's face and kissed him. He kissed him with all the passion he felt for years. He kissed him with the sadness he felt for days. He kissed him with every emotion Kisame was feeling at that moment in time and he just hoped that Itachi could feel each and every one of them.

When Kisame pulled away, Itachi looked slightly dazed at the attack on his lips and found himself missing the warmth. 

"I'm sorry, Itachi-san." Kisame said, furrowing his eyebrows together. "I don't know what came over me-" Itachi yanked Kisame close to him by grabbing the collar of his shirt and pressed their lips together. Kisame was pleasantly surprised but more than anything he felt complete joy in the action. Itachi kissed him willingly. It was more than he deserved in his life, he thought. With every bad deed he'd done, he somehow managed to kiss Itachi and have Itachi kiss him in return. There had to be a catch somewhere. People like him didn't deserve to be happy.

Kisame brushed the negative thoughts away for the time being. Right now, he had to focus on kissing Uchiha Itachi.

***

When Sasuke got back to the compound, he practically tripped over himself running to the library. He had a stack of Itachi's papers in his hand and he needed to translate them. He just hoped it would be easy enough to do. He even brushed of Naruto which he felt badly about but he couldn't explain the excitement he felt at the prospect of finding out something that could potentially help him defeat his brother. 

He'd finally be able to avenge his clan.

With a newfound determination, Sasuke walked into the Uchiha Library which wasn't very well known but it had a lot of different scrolls. He just had to figure out which section would contain the Enochian language. Is this how Itachi managed to learn it? Did he learn it some other way?

It took over an hour of searching but he finally found the secret stash of Enochian scrolls. They were hard to decipher since Enochian was completely different than the Japanese language but Sasuke had nothing but time. He'd teach himself Enochian and hopefully soon enough where it would matter.

He wrote his name in Enochian at the top of a paper as some form of code. Perhaps he could figure out what each letter represented and decode it that way?

There was so much to be done. He rubbed his hands together anxiously. He would have to get to work.

***

Sakura and Naruto went by the compound late the next day. Naruto searched for Sasuke's signature chakra source and eventually was able to find Sasuke holed up in the library. Sakura looked around impressed and Sasuke's attention snapped up.

"What are you guy's doing here?" He asked, slightly crazed from lack of sleep. Sakura recoiled at the expression on Sasuke's face and Naruto ignored it and walked over to sit down next to his soulmate with a pout.

"You missed out on our ramen date last night. And tonight. What the hell?" Sasuke's expression softened and he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You don't look too good."

"I've been up for 37 hours straight." Naruto glanced down at the papers surrounding him.

"What is this?" Sakura walked over and examined the writing. Sasuke felt a mixture of annoyance for her nosiness and hope that she could read it because he was making slower progress than he would've liked. 

"Is this Enochian?" Sakura asked with her eyebrows pushed together. Sasuke perked up slightly.

"You recognize the letters?" He asked and she shrugged.

"I mean slightly. There are a lot of healing scrolls that are written in Enochian. Tsunade says they're pretty powerful jutsus to use. There's a select few medical nin who can read and write in it. Tsunade is one of them, I know that for a fact. Did you want her to translate them?" Sasuke desperately grabbed at the papers.

"No!" Sakura blinked at his sudden bout of anger. "I..."

"Itachi wrote it. You want to know what he said." Naruto answered and Sasuke nodded slowly.

"Well, whatever I can do to help..." Sakura offered and Sasuke gave a curt nod. Naruto grabbed one of the scrolls Sasuke had already read. "How about I grab us some food and you take a nap?" Sasuke frowned at that but he had to admit to himself that he was feeling worse for wear. He watched Naruto read the scroll with mild amusement, wondering if Naruto actually knew what he was reading.

"That would be awesome Sakura." Naruto said for Sasuke and she nodded and left. Naruto continued scanning through the scrolls and Sasuke was amazed to see that it looked as though he was retaining some of the information. He smiled.

By the time Sakura got back, Sasuke and Naruto were out cold. Sasuke's head was laying in Naruto's lap. She smiled and put the food down and grabbed one of the scrolls and a pen. She had studying to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eyyyyyyyyy
> 
> 1) How we feelin' bout the KisaIta lovins?  
> 2) I'm kind of toying with the idea of Hidan mating with Deidara and Kakuzu (I mean I keep breaking the molds on everything else, why not commit to it this way too?) Plus it would be funny to have them pass Hidan off like "Deidara take ur fuckin mate before I strangle him with his goddamn entrails." and "I swear to all the money in the FUCKING WORLD, MY MAN. IF YOU DON'T TAKE HIDAN RIGHT NOW I WILL BLOW. HIM. UP." and then they can be all lovey with him too... idk I have issues. don't judge me.)  
> 3) Who do you think is going to master Enochian the fastest?  
> 4) Last chapter, EVERYONE guessed Kabuto would be the one Lee fought, how would you react if I told you that is not the right answer and the answer is a bit more cannon than that ;p
> 
> ENOCHIAN! Hahaha I doubted anyone would guess that, I was hoping the fact that I write supernatural fanfic on my account someone would guess. None of you did. I did like the answers though they were cute.
> 
> DO YOU WANT MORE AKATSUKI INTERACTIONS!? Read mine and **Lollipopgang71** 's new fic Bad Romance which centers around HidanDeidara, KisameItachi, KakashiGai (and eventual DeidaraSasori and HidanKakuzu) plus we got the SanninOT3 and other shit (MadaraHashirama at some point. Tobi is there too.)


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is super short. I had to steal my husbands laptop. For everyone who doesn't know, my laptop is broken and it's been in the shop for a while. IDK when I'm getting it back.
> 
> Anyway,  
> Team 7 learning Enochian  
> My OT3 arguing  
> Gaara acting weird AF  
> Some news with Itachi
> 
> Again, no one guessed who Lee is fighting but you'll find out who it is at the end of the chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Vivi** : Girl, I feel you so hard. I love them more than air I breathe. Thank you!  
>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : Me too. I love them. I want to do another story with just them but no lappytop right now. Hidan is very high maintenance! I love him.   
> **That Random Weeaboo** : Yeah! Glad you liked it! I love Gaara and Ino bff  
>  **animefanxlove** : I hope you enjoyed that while it lasted lol who knows when other chapters will be posted. Yasss DeihiKaku my OT3. I will break you heart several times through all my fics. I am sorry, it is my way lol  
>  **Desbelleschoses** : Thank you! I mean, they would. I never said they'd be a normal OT3 lmao.   
> **MirSama** : Thank you! I can't wait to write more KisaIta!  
>  **epicdude2000th** : Haha I thought so too.   
> **sakaemara** : Please, share your ideas, i'd love to hear them. I'm not saying that the three will get along fantastically, in fact, their dysfunctionality is one of the funniest things about it. Kimimaro was already in the fic in earlier chapters. He's very dead lol  
>  **Kuko** :I'm so glad. I needed them together. I thought so too. I love all three of those fucking psychopaths. They're bae.   
> **oxohunnyoxo** : I'm so happy! Kisame is lovely, he is also very dumb lol. YAS I'm happy you approve.   
> **Bumblebees_Girl** : Awww thank you. I'm very happy you liked the chapter and with my OT3, yes that's sort of how it'll be with the three of them. Only when Hidan is in heat though. For all the other times... we'll... you'll see when we get there ;)  
>  **kailthia** : thank you!! I'll try to put in some Gaara/Naruto communications for you in the future!  
>  **isis2iris** : Thank you dearie. Nope! They fought Kimimaro already and he's dead.
> 
> Guys, the answer to who Lee is fighting was probably the most obvious answer possible.

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

When Sakura woke up the next morning, she realized she'd fallen asleep at the Uchiha Compound in the library next to Sasuke and Naruto. Well, all she could see was Sasuke. He was still asleep on the ground but Naruto wasn't in the room. She sat up and searched for his chakra and noticed there was much more of a chakra presence outside than what should've been. She stood up and walked towards the door leading outside and peeked out. She saw Naruto with 4 shadow clones, each of them reading their own scroll. It was interesting to see how immersed into the scrolls he was. She walked down towards him.

"Hey Naruto. What are you doing?" All five of them looked up at her.

"Oh, good morning, Sakura." The one said, she was guessing that was the real one. "I just figured if I read like this, I could learn it faster. I retain everything they do, so why not, ya know?" Sakura smiled. For once Naruto wasn't being a complete dumbass. 

"So? How far have you gotten?" She asked and he nodded his head behind her. She turned around to see even more clones with more scrolls. She turned around to him, impressed. 

"I'm getting pretty far into this stuff, honestly. It's pretty neat to learn." He said honestly and she again, was impressed. Who would have known Naruto would take to languages so well?

"Do you think you can read it well enough to translate it?" She asked and he shrugged.

"I dunno. Probably not yet. Only small sentences or words. I've only been studying for a few hours."

"Wow, Naruto. A few hours? I thought you hated studying." He laughed sheepishly and she noticed all the clones were already back to studying, not paying her any mind. 

"Yeah, well it's important to Sasuke so I figured I'd give it my best shot." She smiled at him. That was incredibly sweet of him. He really was growing up. "But hey, you can totally take the first one back, I'm done with it. Plus, it would be pretty cool if we could all speak Enochian. We could talk shit about people right in front of them!" He joked with a cheesy smile. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the scroll. She'd already read this one but it didn't hurt to read it again. She was slowly getting a grasp on the letters but it was still completely new to her. 

"Yeah, or confuse or enemies. And I can finally get my hands on those healer scrolls which would be nice too." Sakura said and sat down next to Naruto and began reading.

***

Hidan woke up alone. 

He groaned and rubbed his face. He was naked, his body was covered in fluids and honestly he didn't care to know what they all were. He didn't remember most of what happened and he was so hungry he wanted to faint. He stood up and instantly toppled down on the floor with a whine. 

Fuck. He hadn't had a heat in so long he forgot how shitty they were. He continued to lay on the cold ground, it was numbing his sore muscles. He wanted to go back to sleep. Where the fuck were his fuck-buddies, he wanted to know.

While Hidan was stewing in his irritation, he attempted to push himself up from the floor. He was so dizzy he could cry. The room was spinning. When was the last time he had anything to drink?

Fuck those goddamn heathens-

The door opened and Deidara walked in and stared down curiously at the naked Hidan sprawled on the bedroom floor. He raised an eyebrow.

"I think you missed the bed, hm." He said and Hidan scowled at him. Deidara sighed and helped Hidan up onto the bed and pulled a bottle of water out of his pocket. Hidan drank it all in one gulp despite Deidara warning him not to. Drinking too quickly could cause his empty stomach to heave it back up but Hidan's mouth was so dry it was nice to have a reprieve. 

"Man, I'm fucking starving." Hidan complained and rubbed his temples. This sucked. Plus who knew how many sacrifices he needed to make to get caught up. 

"I bet you are. It's been 6 days since you've actually eaten anything." Hidan looked at Deidara scandalously. 

"And you couldn't fucking force-feed me? What the fuck?"

"We tried. Kakuzu even tied you down. It didn't work out for anyone." Deidara said flatly. "Relax. Kakuzu is making you food right now." Deidara said simply and Hidan perked up, then looked distrustfully at Deidara.

"Wait a sec. He isn't gonna try to feed me like... vegetables or some shit like that, is he?" He asked with a scowl.

"He may. You haven't eaten in a while, you could use the nutrition. Hm." Hidan's shoulders sagged.

"Aw come on, what the hell? If anything I should be given some good fucking food since you two did fuck me relentlessly for 6 goddamn days." Deidara gave Hidan a once over.

"Hm. I thought you would still have bruises from it. Apparently not." Deidara wrinkled his nose in disgust. "This room smells terrible."

"Then fucking clean it." Hidan bit back and before Deidara could retort, Kakuzu came into the room with some soup. He thrust it at Hidan, nearly spilling the hot broth on his naked lap. "Hey! Be careful! Don't fucking burn my dick off, I need that."

"Actually, no you don't." Kakuzu said flatly and Hidan huffed and took the soup. He eyed it and noticed small vegetables floating around. "Don't bitch." Hidan frowned at that and rolled his eyes. Deidara stood next to Kakuzu.

"You want to help him bathe?" He asked and Kakuzu scoffed. "I thought not. You can clean up the room then, hm." Deidara gave Kakuzu a wicked smile and left the room and Kakuzu grumbled at that. Hidan sat on his bed victorious.

***

Gaara was acting strangely.

Lee watched him do things as he normally did but noticed it was... off. It was like it wasn't Gaara at all but someone pretending to be Gaara. The movements were more robotic than fluid as they usually were. He was stiffer than normal. It was all so strange.

He spoke to Temari and Kankuro about it too. They noticed the same thing but it was weird because it still smelled like Gaara. There was no sign of distress in Gaara's scent. His chakra was the same, he could even feel and smell Shukaku. So what exactly was the problem?

Gaara also spoke less which was honestly saying something. Gaara didn't speak much to begin with but now most answers were met with a nod or a head shake instead of verbal affirmation. Lee had asked him if everything was okay and only got a nod in response. Not being able to scent a lie, Lee honestly couldn't do much about it.

"What do we do?" Lee asked Temari and Kankuro on the third night of Gaara's strange behavior.

"Don't rush into anything, maybe he just misses our friends from the Leaf village." Temari said and that softened Lee's features a bit. Right, he'd forgotten how much Gaara bonded with Ino and Shikamaru. It made sense, he felt like a fool for not adding those things together sooner. 

"Yeah, maybe we should just give him time to grieve them leaving. He'll be back to normal Gaara soon enough, I'm sure of it." Kankuro insisted and Lee nodded.

"You are right. I should not worry. Perhaps me training with him today could lift him into higher spirits." Lee said and Temari smiled at him and crossed her arms.

"Hey, you're right. I don't think you two have sparred together in quite some time. Those were always interesting matches to see. It would be awesome if you two would spar again. It was always such a fun event to watch for the villagers too." Lee nodded with determination.

"Wish me luck! I will challenge my love for a match later this afternoon!" Lee said loudly and rushed out of the house to run to his mate's office. Surely he would accept the challenge with fervor. Gaara had always loved their challenges, it shouldn't be much different now!

It took ten minutes of Lee running at top speed and jumping on buildings for him to finally reach Gaara's office building. He was let inside, actually using the doors this time since he was tired of being yelled at for sneaking in the building and he saw Gaara at his desk don't nothing.

Literally nothing.

He just sat there and stared at a wall. It was... uncomfortable. Lee didn't know how to describe how he felt looking at Gaara's strange expression.

"Uh, Gaara?" Gaara looked over to Lee and gave a nod of welcoming. "I was hoping perhaps you would like to spar with me. We have not been able to do so in quite some time. Maybe later today?"

"..." Gaara stared at Lee for a few seconds, it felt like an eternity. "I do not think that is wise for today. I have to decline your offer." That was the longest, most disappointing sentence Gaara had spoken in days. 

"Oh..." Lee frowned. "Okay. Well... I suppose I will go then?" Gaara's eyes moved back to the spot on the wall he was staring at before Lee came and distracted him, but said nothing else on the matter.

What was going on...?

***

Itachi sat in bed, honestly feeling better than he had in a while. His body was still weak and he still threw up on occasion but his lungs didn't feel like they were burning anymore. He wasn't spitting up blood. He didn't know what changed but he was thankful.

Kisame wasn't here right now since he was with Konan bringing the doctor in. Itachi had a list of questions he wrote down on at his bedside he wanted to ask the doctor once the doctor got there. He heard them walking down the hall and perked up at the sound of Kisame's voice. It was spoken lowly, as if he were trying to be quiet. The door opened and Kisame grinned at Itachi.

The doctor walked in first and went to Itachi's bedside. He examined Itachi, asked the normal questions and did the routine check up. He brought a lot of equipment with him which made sense as to why Konan and Kisame had to help him get there. He didn't think he would see a sonogram machine here but there it was.

"Doctor, I wanted to ask something." Itachi said quietly. That seemed to get the attention of Kisame, although Kisame didn't say anything, he just looked at Itachi more intently. The doctor nodded. "I feel... better. Not like my pregnancy is getting easier-better, but my sickness feels bearable again-better." The doctor blinked in slight surprise. 

"Well, let's check this out, huh?" Itachi nodded.

For almost 45 minutes the doctor checked seemingly everywhere on Itachi's body, inside and outside. Kisame stood by Itachi's bedside with crossed arms and Konan had left a while ago to tend to other things. It was probably the most stressful boring 45 minutes Kisame had ever partaken in only because the noises the doctor made. They were just simple noises but they all meant the same thing. He was curious and getting answers only he didn't voice what the questions were and what the results were. It was so irritating, Kisame was clenching his teeth rather tightly. Itachi had held his hand at some point and that mellowed him out for the time being but still, couldn't the doctor just verbally say what he was doing instead of this bullshit?

"Okay, this is interesting." Kisame wanted to throw his hands up in the air in irritation. "I've finished the check up." For fucks sake, finally. "Itachi this is going to sound strange, I don't want you to get your hopes up in the even this is only temporary, however your lungs seemed to be surrounded by chakra. Your child's chakra. It's a strange color, but it's thriving. The child probably takes after her father in that regard, I'm sure their chakra is almost the same. In any case, she's healing you from the inside." Itachi's eyes widened. Kisame's jaw dropped. "I don't know if this is temporary or not, it could be because you're pregnant, however this type of chakra I've only seen medical nin use. I'm just amazed such a small fetus can have this power. It's remarkable." The doctor tilted his head to the side. "She very well may cure you entirely by the time you give birth if she keeps this up, but again, I can't be sure. Your illness was pretty advanced, I'm not certain if she can completely heal you or not."

"That’s..." Itachi shook his head slowly. What could he say? He looked down at his stomach area and put a tentative hand on it. "Thank you." He whispered.

"You say she a lot..." Kisame said and trailed off. The doctor smiled.

"Oh, it's just a habit. I can't tell yet, would you two like to know the gender when I do know?" Itachi looked at Kisame. He gave a shrug, Itachi turned back and nodded. "Alright, once she decides to uncross her legs, I'll know for sure. But you two should be proud. Looks like she's going to be quite the medic nin." Kisame closed his eyes and relished in the moment. He was so incredibly thankful he couldn't even put everything into words. He would be able to hold onto Itachi for that much longer without the thought of him dying. He was... over the moon, really.

***

Gaara stood in the center of the village. His eyes weren't the right color. The villagers who usually greeted him, made sure to stay away, there was something ominous about how he stood. Something was wrong with him.

They noticed his arms raise, with that, the sand beneath their feet began to raise as well. He got it all a foot off the ground before he was kicked in the back and sent flying. He crashed into one of the buildings and stood up with a grunt. He turned to his attacker with a scowl, his normal aqua colored eyes now black. The sand that he had risen had fallen uselessly back on the ground. 

Lee stood across from Gaara's body with a look of pure determination. He was standing in his normal fighting stance and his eyes narrowed. Gaara tilted his head to the side slightly. He was swaying, losing control on his body.

"You may look like my mate and smell like him too, however, you do not possess the personality of him. For that reason, I know you are not him. Who are you?"

"Gaara." He responded but he was grinning. "This body is 100% Gaara's body. However..." Gaara's posture straightened which was strange to see him stand so stiffly. He put his hands on his hips, another stance that Lee wasn't used to seeing on Gaara. "I think you'd be surprised how easy it was to take over his mind once I encased his chakra with my own." The smirk on his face was uncanny.

"Kabuto." Lee scowled and deepened his fighting stance. Kabuto also stood in a defensive position.

"I believe it's time to fight. Think you can fight your mate? It's his body after all." Lee clenched his teeth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) So even though Gaara is being controlled by Kabuto, Lee still technically isn't fighting Kabuto! He's fighting Gaara! How do you feel?  
> 2) So for Hidan's twins, (Kakuzu's daughter, Deidara's son) How do you like the names Yen (For obvious Kakuzu reasons) and Katsu?  
> 3) Looks like Naruto is learning the fastest, anything you think he's going to learn by knowing enochian?  
> 4) Looks like Itachi is getting better! Do you think that's because he's pregnant and he'll go back to getting worse after Akua is born or is he going to stay better?
> 
> Thanks for reading, sorry it's short. I'll update when I can. (this may be tougher on me than it is on you)


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara and Lee fight  
> Naruto translates a page of Itachi's notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, I felt bad that I only wrote 5 pages yesterday so I stole my husbands laptop to write more early this morning and wrote until my daughter woke up. I hope y'all enjoy!
> 
>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : Man, me too. Sad because Kabuto used to be one of my favorites when he first came out. I know! I'd love for Itachi to stay better I love him so much he's one of my favorites! But single father Kisame does sound really cute in a sad way...  
>  **YoKoChii150** : jajaj gracias!  
>  **iii** : You got it!  
>  **Desbelleschoses** : aww don't feel lied to. He honestly doesn't fight Kabuto at all. He does fight Gaara! Just with Kabuto's persuasion!   
> **sakaemara** : Well, half right being Kabuto was able to alter Gaara's mind enough to have this fight happen. Kabuto has no control of the actual fight though. Gaara is 100% in his right frame of mind right now. He isn't being controlled anymore. Hahah Kakuzu is referencing money here. Lollipopgang suggested it and I thought it was hysterical. Katsu is actually what Deidara says in the japanese dub to detonate his clay instead of the "hmph!" he says in the English dub! Yass I can't wait for Naruto to learn the seals!! Akua loves her mommy just like all of us <3  
>  **animefanxlove** : Because I will always break your heart. Don't trust me lmao. I robbed Gaara and Lee of their fight before. I wanted everyone to get to see Lee for how strong he truly is. Gaara was the best opponant, plus we'll be able to see more of Orochimaru's musings because of it! Katsu is a boy and Yen is a girl! (I've drawn them on my tumblr, even all grown up! Katsu is loud and obnoxious like Hidan, he also has Deidara's kekkei genkai but prefers to use weaponry. Yen is very calm and also uses a scythe when she doesn't feel like using her father's kekkei genkai.)   
> **Vivi** : Oh Gaara's safety is kind of pushed to the back burner with Lee trying not to die here lol. But yes. Lee as to figure out how to snap Gaara out of his illusion. I'm happy my writing makes your day!  
>  **Bumblebees_Girl** : Well, what you wanted to happen didn't happen because Kabuto isn't really possessing Gaara anymore Gaara is fighting of his own accord (albeit being deceived) but I hope you enjoy the fight all the same. And of course! Trying to picture Deidara and Kakuzu fighting over who has the girl and who has the boy sounds hysterical to me! Hidan is like 'they're going to be servants of Jashin either way so..." And I've developed more of Akua's character based on that. She is a very powerful medic ninja. She's a pacifist like her mommy and Kisame can't hand down the Samehada to her because despite her blue skin and gills, her main chakra nature is fire so the Samehada doesn't like her very much because it hates fire chakra.

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

"Lee!" Temari's voice was heard from off to the side. Lee's eyes glanced over to meet her line of sight and he gave her a curt nod. She looked worried.

"I will not fight you here, please, let us take this out of the village." Lee said more than he asked. Gaara chuckled. His body started to float upwards and Lee saw he was using Gaara's ability to transport himself via sand cloud and felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck. He had hoped Gaara's abilities would be more skewed considering Kabuto was in charge of it but it seemed all of Gaara's powers were intact. He quickly jumped after Gaara and eventually they were out of the village. Lee led them further in order to put enough distance between the fight and the people of the village.

"Why are you doing this?" Lee asked once they stopped moving.

"You'll find out eventually. Now, I'm going to leave you guys to it. Have fun." Kabuto chuckled and reached his arm up and made a small cut under Gaara's nose. Gaara's eyes turned from black back to his normal color, but they were hollow. 

"Gaara...?" Lee asked slowly. Gaara suddenly looked crazed. Lee recoiled. What was going on?

***

Sasuke was hovering over Naruto's shoulder. He was irritated to say that he was impressed with his loser boyfriend's apparent ability to learn as quickly as he did. Had he done something like this in the academy, Naruto could've easily been the top student instead of Sasuke.

"So what can you read?" Sasuke asked intently while Naruto's eyes narrowed through the text. "Naruto?"

"Sasuke, stop talking." Naruto said and Sakura walked into the room and rushed to Naruto's other side. She'd been picking up the language as fast as she could but still it wasn't fast enough. She could recognize certain letters but it was still not making sense to her. It worked differently than Japanese. "It... it doesn't make sense." Naruto stood up and started pacing with his eyebrows furrowed. His face was flushed. "Uh, can-can you get me paper and a pen?" He asked and Sasuke rushed off to grab them. Naruto took them from Sasuke's hands and put them at the desk and started to write. His eyes stayed glued to the Enochian and his trembling hand translated the words to the blank piece of paper. Sasuke stared at the paper intently and noticed Naruto swallow thickly.

"What?"

"S-sasuke I don't... I don't think you want to read this." He said nervously. Sasuke noticed the tremble in Naruto's arms.

"Why?" Sasuke asked sharply. He looked at the translated text. It wasn't much.

"This... It looks like... It's like a diary. Or a journal or whatever. There's just some things here... That I'm not sure you want to know..." Naruto looked at the paper as though it would eat him alive. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"I want to know everything about that bastard Naruto, now translate it unless you can't do it!" Naruto looked pityingly at Sasuke and slowly nodded his head. Sakura walked over and tried to read what Naruto apparently was having difficulty translating and cursed inwardly knowing she couldn't understand the text. Naruto took in a deep breath and sat down. 

"Okay... Just go... Sit down or something I don't want to be around when you read this..." Naruto said and that just stressed Sasuke out even more. "Go!" Sasuke scowled but stomped off and even went as far as to leave the building. Naruto knew he was annoyed.

"What happened, Naruto? You look shaken." Sakura asked quietly and Naruto clenched his teeth.

"It's just... This was written when Itachi was nine, it looks like. It's hard." Sakura never saw Naruto look so torn about something and wanted to ask more but he shook his head. "Please don't. You can read it when I'm done. I just don't want to talk about it." Sakura nodded slowly and couldn't help the anxious thudding in her heart. She walked back to the scrolls and with more determination began to study.

***

Before Kabuto let Gaara's mind free, he decided to leave a parting gift. He reached up and cut under Gaara's nose making sure the only thing Gaara could smell was blood. 

"You see that man?" He whispered in Gaara's mind. Gaara saw the figure, but couldn't make out who it was. It was blurry. "He's trying to hurt your village." 

Hurt his village? Gaara was surprised. Who would want to do that? Suddenly the figure came into focus. It was just some generic ninja. Nothing special about him. Gaara tried to scent him but the smell of blood was overwhelming. He grew angry. Shukaku started to thrash from within. The man must be an alpha. Well, there was no holding back then. He didn't want Shukaku to think he'd gone soft.

"Gaara?" The voice sounded like Lee. That made Gaara angrier. He would die twice just because he had the audacity to take on his mate's voice.

The fight started quickly. Lee was surprised that Gaara started attacking first. He started how he normally did. Arms crossed and an angry expression on his face. There was no mistaking that this was Gaara, the only question was, why was Gaara attacking him? Especially so relentlessly.

Lee was able to use the sand Gaara attacked him with as platforms to jump higher up in the air. After a while he noticed figures standing closer than he would've liked them to. He could scent Temari and Kankuro amongst them and scowled. He hoped Gaara wouldn't do anything to harm them.

Lee flipped backwards several times and landed perfectly on his feet, the shock of the landing absorbed by the sand. He went back into a fighting position and the whips of sand would've sent him flying back had he not known exactly what to expect from his mate. 

They'd only been fighting for several minutes, but it was long enough to know for certain that Gaara had been going easy on him each time they sparred. He knew Gaara was powerful but with the strength of his attacks, it was no wonder he was Kazekage at 15. 

Lee got close enough to Gaara to fight with taijutsu. Gaara humored him for a bit but wound up catching his leg in his sand and flung him back, hard. Lee landed with a grunt and jumped back up. He started to run circles around Gaara attempting to throw him off and hopefully find an opening. Gaara was privy to how Lee fought and was able to trip him easily. Lee growled. It wasn't working. He was too slow.

Lee rolled to his side, narrowly missing a sand attack and jumped up so he was standing on a large boulder several feet in the air. He sat down briefly and yanked his legwarmers down and grabbed the weights and dropped them. He sent a telepathic apology to his sensei for ridding himself of the weights but already felt lighter on his feet.

Away from the fight, Temari, Kankuro and the rest of the shinobi watching the fight were shocked with how heavy the weights Lee used actually were. It almost wasn't human.

"Where is Lee?" Kankuro asked and Temari looked around trying to find him. She couldn't.

Suddenly Gaara was thrown backwards and they saw Lee body flicker. Or not exactly. He wasn't using body flicker but he was so fast he kept disappearing. 

"What's going on? Why aren't they holding back?" Kankuro asked, worried. "Lee is really going hard." Temari's eyes narrowed. She had no idea what was going on but it didn't look good. Especially considering neither of them seemed to be pulling their punches.

Lee was able to get behind Gaara and kick him hard in the back causing Gaara to go flying forward. Temari's eyes widened. She knew Lee was fast but even Gaara's sand was having a hard time protecting him. If there hadn't been sand under their feet, the sand in Gaara's gourd would have been too slow to stop Gaara's fall. She clenched her teeth. None of this was good.

***

Naruto walked passed Sakura and she glanced up and saw a paper filled with Japanese text. She swallowed hard and stood up catching up with Naruto. Naruto looked around outside until he found Sasuke throwing kunai at a tree. He hit the target each time.

"You have the translation?" Sasuke asked and Naruto nodded stiffly.

"Sasuke, I'm going to say again, I'm not so sure you should read this-"

"Naruto give me the damn paper!" Sasuke snapped and Naruto looked away and sighed. He nodded and handed Sasuke the translation of one of the many pieces to Itachi's journal. Sasuke snatched it and his eyes scanned over the text greedily. Sakura was burning with curiosity but she didn't want to read it over Sasuke's shoulder. Especially with how tense he was getting.

"You sure this is what it says?" Sasuke asked, his voice surprisingly empty, but his body was still incredibly tense. Naruto gave a nod. 

"It isn't exactly something I would make up, or have the imagination to come up with." Naruto responded bitterly. "I'm going to go think." Which was strange for Naruto to say and just made Sakura more curious. He jumped off and Sasuke continued to look at the paper. She couldn't really place the emotions that flickered across his face and after a while he snapped and started throwing the kunai with more vigor. Sakura knew she wouldn't get information out of Sasuke. She could only hope Naruto would tell her. She frowned and went back inside to study, this time working harder than ever to hopefully finish the third scroll by the end of the day.

***

"Lee is really fucking strong." Kankuro said nearly thirty minutes into the fight. Both Lee and Gaara weren't giving up. Gaara attacked Lee with such abandon, they didn't think Lee would make it out alive. Each time, he found a way.

"I knew he had to have some power but he really is a powerhouse." Temari agreed softly. 

Everyone treated Lee like a moron and talked down on him because of the stupid way he dressed. They didn't think he was capable of much because of his happy attitude and here he was, thirty minutes into a one on one full on battle with Gaara and he was holding his own. Temari couldn't see blood yet. Besides on Gaara's face.

That was there since the beginning of the fight. What exactly did that mean?

Lee was tiring himself out with using his full speed but Gaara still had tons of chakra reserves left. Lee was upset to even think about using this move, but Gaara left him no choice. For whatever reason, Gaara was attacking him as if he were an enemy and it got even worse each time Lee spoke. He couldn't talk any sense into his mate! Not unless he wanted Gaara whipping around and fighting him harder. 

Lee had to do it. He opened the third gate. Chakra emanated from his body in waves so strong, the shinobi watching the fight had to take a step back. Lee landed such a powerful punch against Gaara, he flew backwards and completely crumbled a large rock formation. Temari's eyes widened and she fought the urge to run after her brother.

Gaara emerged from the debris completely fine and Lee was surprised to see that one second Gaara was several hundred meters away, the next he was right in front of Lee. Lee held up his arms in a defensive position and was curious as to why Gaara was so close to him. Gaara usually fought long range. Being hand to hand would give Lee the advantage.

Gaara gripped Lee's arm tightly. When Lee saw the look in his eyes, he knew he was losing Gaara. He was slipping away. Who knew how long it would take for Shukaku to surface. 

Sand traveled up Lee's body and Lee felt cold. He couldn't move. What was going on?

Sand poured through Gaara's body and attached itself to Lee's. Lee knew what Gaara was doing and his eyes grew panicked. Using all of his might, Lee opened the fifth gate with sheer determination. Gaara was sent back a few feet by the force of it, but the sand was still all over Lee's body. He couldn't shake it. Gaara laid on the ground and Lee shook his head, watching Gaara raise his arm. Lee couldn't handle this fight. Fighting Gaara like this was hell. He thought their sparing was difficult but this was a whole new level. Without any reserves on Gaara's part, this became a desperate need for a blood bath on Gaara's part. 

"Sand coffin." Gaara clenched his fist and Lee prayed he was fast enough.

"No!" Temari shrieked. No matter how strong Lee was, no one could live through the sand coffin. It would crush Lee to death.

***

"Kabuto." Orochimaru's voice sounded through the room. "How is everything going?"

"Fairly well, my lord." Kabuto said with a smirk on his face. "I was able to convince Gaara's mind that Lee wasn't Lee so now we wait and see what happens."

"Excellent." Orochimaru was pleased. 

"My lord, why exactly are we wasting our time with these two anyway?"

"Not really wasting time, Kabuto." Orochimaru said with a look of disproval. "If we can control Gaara to this extent, that is one more way we can get him into our grasp."

"Yes, but why make him fight Lee instead of forcing him to come here?" Kabuto asked curiously.

"He must come here of his own accord, it's the only way we'll be able to take the tailed beast from him. He's more likely to do so with his mate out of the way." Orochimaru chuckled. "It will be easy to control him from then on. Think of the possibilities of having an omega that powerful? Think of the offspring he will produce." Kabuto nodded slowly.

"And you're planning on making those children your own?" He asked confused. Orochimaru scowled at the thought.

"No. I don't want him in the slightest. However, with his kekkei genkai of magnet release, it allowed Gaara to control some form of mineral. His was luckily sand which was easier to find and control unlike his father Rasa's who's was gold. If there was something more common than sand to control, the child would be incredibly powerful. The only problem is Lee. Can't exactly breed Gaara with Lee, sure he's fast but that came with training and a lot of it. I want to give this child a headstart by giving him another powerful kekkei genkai to start his life with. Then perhaps, find my new body." Orochimaru chuckled as he pondered it. Finding a new body now would be simple enough if he knew the powerful body he could create by manipulating genetics.

"Did you have a father in mind?" Kabuto asked.

"Hm..." Orochimaru looked to be in thought but Kabuto knew it was just for show. Orochimaru was sure to already have the details picked out. Especially from something as important as this. He wouldn't just pick randomly. "I think it would be quite lovely to have a child with a sharingan, how about you?" Kabuto smirked and gave his lord a nod. "I'm glad you approve."

"That means we have to get Sasuke back." Orochimaru nodded.

"And get rid of his mate. Another tailed beast. How boring." Orochimaru sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was writing until my daughter woke up. Blame her for the cliffhanger lol.
> 
> 1) NOW what do you think Itachi's journal says?  
> 2) Can you imagine how cute Gaara and Sasuke's child would be though? Like I don't ship it at all but still.  
> 3) How do you think the battle is going to end??  
> 4) Anything you want to see happen at the Akatsuki hideout with all these hormones going around? How do you think Hidan finds out he's pregnant and how does he react? (along with Deidara and Kakuzu)


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We have some Orochimaru musings.  
> A slight look back on Itachi's life  
> The conclusion of the GaaLee battle and...  
>  **SMUT. JESUS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, THERE'S SO MUCH SMUT THIS CHAPTER.** All of it is Akatsuki smut.  
>  We got my OT3 smut this chapter  
> We got some KisaIta smut this chapter.  
> #sorrynotsorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Vivi** : Haha I live for the look on Pein's face. Let's see Tobi take Sasori's place now and just be like "??? forget my world domination plans. babies???"   
> **Narutard** : The whole part with the 7th gate is interesting! I'll have to keep that in mind for future chapters! The ending to the fight is anticlimactic but that's because it isn't over completely just yet.  
>  **YoKoChi150** : ¡Estoy tan feliz de que te sientas así! ¡Este capítulo es para ti! ;)  
>  **isis2iris** : Aw thank you honey. I'm glad.  
>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : Haha right though? I would die if their lovechild spoke to me. the sass would be overwhelming. a reluctantly excited pregnant Hidan! I love it. I can't wait to write deidara's meltdown.  
>  **That Random Weeaboo** : Well, you'll find out a bit this chapter! And yes, the hilarity of the pregnant akatsuki. Fantastic. Iconic.  
>  **Haaku** : Ahh! glad to have you back. I hope you're ready for this fuckfest of a chapter because I clearly was not ready to write smut for two hours lol. You would have been the closest to guessing the language correctly! I knew no one would guess it though lol. I can write a breakdown for Sasuke. I mean, Deidara is getting one too. Everyone gets a fucking breakdown in this story.   
> **sakaeamara** : It has been a while since I wrote a GaaLee sex scene... Let's be real, if Itachi yelled at Deidara for whatever reason, Kisame would literally slaughter Deidara if he yelled back XD haha thank you! I'm glad you liked the last update!  
>  **ox0hunny0xo** : I do call my daughter tiny satan so you may be onto something there. And your comment had me dying "can you imagine how rude it would be" you're so right. That child would be rude AF with NO social skills.

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

"Hey Naruto." Sakura called to Naruto's backside hours later. He hadn't come back since he translated the paper and Sakura couldn't take it anymore. Sasuke was absolutely crazy. He trashed the entire training ground and in the Uchiha library he nearly burned everything down. She had to know what the page said.

"Yeah Sakura?" Naruto asked quietly and looked over his shoulder. "What's up?"

"I just..." She sighed and sat by his side and they both overlooked the pond together.

"I take it Sasuke didn't share with the class what the paper said?"

"No... And he set it on fire." Sakura said with a sigh. "I know you said that it was bad... But... I can't help Sasuke if I don't know what it says." She whispered and Naruto rubbed his neck and sighed.

"You don't need to worry about Sasuke-"

"Naruto." Sakura looked at him pleading and Naruto looked back at the pond.

"Fucker. I can't believe he burned it after I put all that effort into translating it." Naruto shook his head. "Can't say I blame him though." Sakura's gaze intensified and Naruto nodded slowly. "Alright, Sakura. I'll tell you. It isn't a nice story though. And unfortunately for me, I also read ahead so I know more than Sasuke. And it gets worse." Sakura didn't like the sound of that. Not one bit.

***

Gaara felt the burning of his skin threading together as it healed. Shukaku's chakra was hard at work in mending the deep cut on his upper lip. It itched. Gaara wrinkled his nose and stood up straight. It didn't take much longer for him to be thrown a few hundred meters by a forceful kick by his opponent. He had to admit, this guy was fast. Almost as fast as...

Lee?

Gaara's vision was hazy. Heat made images wavy and that's exactly what he was seeing. Everything was wavy and distorted. He couldn't really make out the person he was fighting but they were walking closer to him. Why was he walking? Gaara stood up with a scowl.

"You should be dead, how did you survive that?" He demanded.

"You protect me, Gaara." It was Lee's voice again. Gaara dug his fingernails into the sand that caked against his skin. "I do not know what you are doing, but lucky for me you still protect me even if you fight me."

"Why do you sound like Lee?!" Gaara snapped and Lee recoiled. 

"Gaara, it is me." Lee said confused. Gaara shook his head vehemently. "Gaara, how else would I sound the same and have the exact same fighting style? Gaara, it is me. I do not know what you are seeing or what happened but it is me." Gaara clutched his head in confusion. It was burning his brain to even think about.

Wiping the dried blood from under his nose, Gaara was smacked in the face with the scent of his very stressed, distraught mate. That was Lee, no doubt about it. Gaara walked a few steps closer, squinting his eyes, really looking ahead of him trying to figure out what was going on. 

"Lee?" His voice cracked from the sand inhalation. 

"Yes, Gaara. It is me." Lee said with a relieved smile.

"You don't... you don't look like yourself." Gaara said and Lee shrugged.

"You seem to be the only person who thinks so. Are you alright?" Gaara opened his mouth to respond and suddenly his body was on fire. He collapsed to the sand and Lee rushed to his side. "Gaara!"

It took a few moments of an internal fight with himself but eventually, Gaara's head lifted up and black eyes stared back at Lee.

"You again." Lee scowled and Kabuto chuckled.

"Yes. Sorry about that. Gaara broke free of that a lot quicker than I had anticipated. Bummer. Don't worry, I'll fix it." Lee grit his teeth. 

"What the hell do you want from Gaara?" He snapped. 

"Oh I personally don't want anything from him, it's what Lord Orochimaru wants from him." Lee glared. "Is that your way of telling me to get to the point? Fine, we just want to borrow Gaara's body for a little while." 

"What!?"

"Yeah, no big deal, we just need his genetics. Once he gives us a child, he can do whatever he so chooses."

"You think I would let you use my mate in that way!? Have you no honor?!" Lee was seriously pissed and more scandalized than anything.

"No. We didn't think you would, which is why we planned on you dying. However, how irritating was it for us to find that Gaara's sand also protects you from life threatening situations? We had not planned for that. But trust me when we tell you that we'll get our hands on Gaara." After his final laugh, Kabuto's influence faded and Gaara was left in control of his body again, this time, he could see Lee. 

"Lee." He whispered and Lee fell to his knees and embraced Gaara tightly.

"Gaara. I love you."

***

"My lord, why did you have me tell Lee our plans? Won't that make it harder for us to get our grasp on Gaara?" Orochimaru chuckled as he leaned back in his chair.

"Not necessarily, Kabuto. If I know alphas, and I do, I'm willing to wager that from this point on, Lee's control over Gaara will grow exponentially. Now, in any other situation, the omega wouldn't mind the protection. However, this is Gaara we're talking about. The attempted control over him will just make him angry and lash out causing a rift between the two. It's only a matter of waiting for now. Don't you worry. I'll get my hands on him. After that, we can plan for Sasuke too."

"I've been meaning to ask... Sasuke? Why not Itachi? He's more powerful than Sasuke could hope to be."

"Yes but he's an omega." Orochimaru said with a dismissive hand wave.

"An omega? I thought he was a beta!" Orochimaru cackled at that.

"Yes, yes. Everyone did. You can't get past my nose though, I can scent even the slightest smells. No matter how hard Itachi tried to hide it, I could always tell. Plus, there was that... terrible thing that happened to Itachi to make him an omega to begin with. It isn't really a secret everyone knows, but as you know Kabuto, I know everything." Kabuto gave Orochimaru an appraising look.

"But my lord, what does Itachi's omega status have to do with anything? They can still mate with each other, can't they?" Orochimaru nodded.

"Yes but they have a very... interesting ability. Their offspring can be one of two things. A super-alpha or a super-omega. It is more likely that they would give birth to a super-omega however. These breeds are completely unheard of since people created this strange... stigma behind two omega being together. Super-omega are incredibly fertile. In fact, they can get pregnant while they're pregnant. It's messy business. They apparently smell incredibly sweet though. There's more on them, but I haven't honestly found all the scrolls on them. I didn't care to."

"What about super alphas?" Orochimaru chuckled at his underling's curiosity. 

"Super-alphas are exactly what they sound like. They're essentially bowed down to and seen as gods. There's been only two cases of super-alphas in existence. They can manipulate anyone. I tend to not read about them, it makes me curious and one does not want for me to be curious." Orochimaru smirked. 

"Wouldn't a super-alpha be more preferable as a body?"

"I suppose so, the chances of it are so slim we'd likely be breeding Gaara and Itachi for years, maybe even decades." Kabuto looked intrigued but dropped the subject. He nodded. 

"Alright, Lord Orochimaru."

***

"I couldn't put the papers down." Naruto admitted. "It was like a-a train wreck or something. It's like I couldn't look away." He sighed. "It started when Itachi was seven..." Naruto took in a deep breath. "Now he didn't write this when he was seven, he wrote it when he was nine so the details were fuzzy at best. It doesn't directly mention who it was, just... someone wanted him to be an omega." The details left Sakura clenching her teeth. That was honestly all she needed to know to paint the rest of the picture. She nodded slowly. "I'm... sure you know how that happens." Naruto looked away and she nodded slowly.

"But... When... When he was seven?" She asked, voice shaken. 

"Sakura, you're a medical ninja, you should know better than me... The earlier it happens, the more likely of getting your results." Naruto noticed Sakura's eyes were glassy. "I'll stop here."

"B-but... Itachi wasn't an omega, right? All the data books have him listed as a beta. Some even say alpha." She felt slightly better with the knowledge of that. That means it didn't resonate in Itachi as badly as it could've.

"Actually..." Naruto sighed again. "He was an omega." Sakura's head snapped to stare at Naruto.

"What?"

"Yeah. Like I said... I read ahead. Itachi had his first heat when he was 11. Which is already two years earlier than average." Sakura held her head in her hands and shook it. "There was a developmental drug that his father gave him and it essentially made the organs privy to an omega to disintegrate from the inside. Since he could still scent things people thought he was an alpha but he normally said he was a beta. People went with that since he never went into heat or a rut."

"That sounds so terrible. Why did his father do that?"

"He wanted Itachi to stay on the ANBU force and said it was dishonorable for an Uchiha to even present as an omega since it wasn't heard of. Male Uchiha's have never been omega apparently. Itachi didn't want to be on the force, he said he doesn't even like to fight and avoids it when he can, but he had to do what his father asked since he was only 11." Sakura shook her head slowly. She felt bad for the lingering thought of 'no wonder he killed everyone' but shushed the thought. "I still have a lot of reading to do, but I'm not sure that I want to." Naruto said with a sigh. 

"I understand." Sakura said softly and looked as the water rippled from the Koi fish.

***

"For fucks sake, Hidan, shut the fuck up." Kakuzu snapped and Hidan pouted and glared. 

Right now they were sitting in Hidan's room, Kakuzu was counting his money as he always did after a bounty mission and Hidan was on the bed sharpening his scythe. And rambling endlessly about his god, Jashin-Sama which was likely the reason for Kakuzu's ire. 

"Come on, man! You always fucking do this." Hidan said with an exaggerated sigh.

"Because you never shut your goddamn mouth." Kakuzu snapped. 

"Someone is testy." Hidan said with a grin. "What's got you down, big guy?" Kakuzu sent a glare to his partner and had to restart counting his money for the fourth time now. "Hey! I know what will cheer you up." Hidan's face was all smiles, but Kakuzu could see the sinister expression in Hidan's eyes. Kakuzu had to admit, he was curious.

"What?" He nearly spat and Hidan stood up and put his scythe against the wall and stood pressed against the door. 

"Deidara gets back from his mission today." Hidan couldn't keep the chuckle back any longer. "And I've been thinking, how fair is it that some prissy bitch like Deidara is an alpha?"

"...Go on." Kakuzu actually put his money down. Hidan grinned.

"Well... what if we were to treat our lovely alpha... exactly how he should be treated, hm?" 

"You want to top Deidara?" Kakuzu asked tonelessly.

"You can top him too. I mean think of how embarrassed he'd be, getting topped by an omega and a beta? It would crush his biddy ego; don't you think?" Hidan didn't need Kakuzu's mask to be off to tell that Kakuzu was smirking behind it. 

"...How much do you want to bet he likes it?" Kakuzu said, his eyes narrowing dangerously. That caused Hidan's grin to widen. 

"We're going to make him so fucking miserable. I can't fucking wait." Hidan started to bounce on his feet and threw the door opened.

"What the hell are you doing now?"

"Getting something to eat. You can't expect us to do this on an empty stomach, can you?" Kakuzu scoffed and Hidan left the room. It took a few seconds for Kakuzu to reluctantly agree with Hidan and follow him to the kitchen.

***

"Itachi-san, how are you feeling?" Kisame asked and Itachi looked at him and smiled softly.

"For the first time in a while I don't feel like I'm dying." He said honestly and Kisame couldn't hold his grin back. He hugged Itachi tightly and felt Itachi hug him back just as firmly. "What are we?" Itachi asked Kisame and Kisame was suddenly brought back to a few weeks prior.

"I would be anything you would grace me with the title of, Itachi-san." Kisame said honestly and Itachi tilted his head to the side.

"Why?"

"You're very... important to me." Kisame said slowly, choosing his words carefully. 

"Why?" Kisame chuckled at the question. Itachi was acting like a curious child more than a hardened criminal. It was endearing. 

"I can't really say. You've just-We just-." Kisame breathed in and out. "We got off on the wrong foot. You were 14 years old and already you were this force of power that everyone just didn't want to mess with. We didn't like each other. It happened slowly, I guess. I didn't like you but I did admire you. You're incredibly strong and if that wasn't good enough, you're also super intelligent. I started to care more about what you wanted over what our leader wanted. I guess I kind of figured you meant a lot to me then. My question for you though, is why bother with a freak like me?"

"Freak?" Itachi seemed surprised at the statement. Kisame raised an eyebrow as if to say 'have you seen me?' but Itachi stood by his confusion. "I don't think you're a freak at all, Kisame." Itachi said honestly and his eyes grazed over Kisame's bare chest. Usually when they weren't doing missions, he didn't wear his cloak and he never wore a shirt under it anyway. "In fact... no one has ever caught my attention as you have." He said honestly and straddled a very surprised Kisame's hips. 

"I-Itachi-san?" Kisame really hoped Itachi wasn't fucking with him right now because it's been weeks since they had sex and after getting a taste for Itachi, especially when the taste was Itachi in heat, Kisame didn't want to ever stop having sex with him. Having Itachi's warmth so close to him in his arms drove him wild. 

"I think you're very attractive, Kisame." Itachi admitted while he ran his fingers down Kisame's chest. He loved how muscular Kisame was. And right now with all of his hormones, he felt like he was on the brink of an orgasm just by straddling Kisame's hips. 

"Itachi I-"

"Fuck me, Kisame. Please." Itachi all but whined. He noticed the darkening expression on Kisame's face and was promptly flipped over. Kisame undid his pants just enough to pull his throbbing erection out but kept his pants on for the most part. 

If Kisame thought he was horny, well Itachi was so horny he thought he was going to die. He didn't even know where it came from. He cursed his irritating hormones and helped Kisame pull his pants off. Itachi spread his legs out and wrapped them around Kisame's waist.

"Should I prep-"

"No just fuck me." The demand in Itachi's voice sent a shiver of need down to the pit of Kisame's stomach and he wasted no time in sinking into Itachi with a stifled moan. 

"You're so wet." He breathed and Itachi tightened his grip on Kisame's hips with his legs, pulling him in deeper. "Itachi, please." Kisame said through gritted teeth. "It's been a few weeks and I'm too turned on to last long."

"I didn't say you had to." Itachi said simply. He wrapped his hand around his cock and started to stroke himself. Kisame swallowed thickly and was entranced by the simple movement and found that his hips began to move at the same pace of Itachi's hand. Watching Itachi touch himself had been a guilty pleasure of his since he was subjected to 4 hours of that torture in the hotel room. "I want you to cum Kisame." Fuck, he didn't need to ask twice. Kisame fucked into Itachi more vigorously and watched Itachi come undone underneath him. Kisame grinned at that. He loved how easy it was to make Itachi cum. It was so nice to see that if there was one thing he didn't have control over himself with it was that. It was such an innocent thing, plus the quick recovery time. Well, unless that was strictly a heat thing.

Seeing Itachi cum all over himself had Kisame really pound Itachi into the bed. The moaning under him was just adding more fuel to the burning feeling in his abdomen. Kisame wasn't sure why he did it, but right as he felt the impending euphoria of his orgasm, he leaned in and sunk his teeth into Itachi's neck. The taste of Itachi's blood coated Kisame's tongue and he licked it up like candy. Itachi whimpered and clawed at Kisame's back and Kisame continued to lick the wound and kiss all around Itachi's neck. 

Kisame pulled away slightly, only to be dragged back down again. He felt teeth break the skin on his neck and a tingle of pleasure jolted through his body, fading into his fingertips. He clenched the sheets beneath him and felt Itachi kiss and lick Kisame's new bite mark. 

"You're mine now." Itachi said quietly.

"What?" Kisame rubbed his eyes, he was quite tired. After Itachi bit him, it felt like his nerves came alive, but it also completely drained him of his energy.

"You claimed me, I claimed you." Itachi said but Kisame didn't really hear him. He fell asleep.

***

"You're back!" Hidan yelled when Deidara walked into the kitchen. Deidara raised an eyebrow at him.

"You care?" Hidan frowned at that and Sasori, who was standing behind Deidara, snorted at the interaction. "I thought you were on a mission too, hm."

"I was. I fuckin finished it though. I guess I'm faster than your atheist ass." Deidara rolled his eyes.

"Why does everything go back to religion with you, hm?" He narrowed his eyes.

"All YOU fuckin talk about is bombs and art and stupid shit like that." Hidan said and stood up. "Whatever, I don't need to talk to you, eat a dick, Deidara." Hidan left the room with a scowl but after passing Deidara, a smirk came to his face and he stormed off to his bedroom. He walked in and Kakuzu was sitting on the bed, as they planned and just like they said he would, Deidara was angrily following Hidan and wouldn't let Hidan close the door. "If you don't get the fuck away from me, you'll regret it." Hidan warned.

"What the fuck are you going to do, omega?" Deidara hissed angrily and Hidan scoffed and let go of his hold on the door causing Deidara to stumble inside and fall to the ground. Hidan kicked the rest of Deidara's body inside the room and slammed the door shut and locked it. "What the fuck?"

"I warned him, didn't I, Kakuzu?" Hidan asked and Kakuzu nodded slowly and Deidara watched in mild horror as Kakuzu's threads began to slither out from the cracks of Kakuzu's body.

"What the f—" Deidara's mouth was covered by the threads so he couldn't speak anymore.

"Thank Jashin, he was getting annoying, right Kakuzu?" Hidan said with a grin.

"You'll be next if you don't shut your trap." Kakuzu threatened.

"Me? What did I do? I planned this perfectly and you don't even appreciate me." Hidan said, pouting. Deidara looked at them with trepidation. What exactly did they plan? 

The threads tied Deidara's body together just enough so he couldn't move. He thrashed violently against it and Hidan watched him for a beat or two with a grin until he walked over and worked around the threads to get Deidara's cloak off. Deidara started to yell but the sound was muted by the covering of his mouth. 

Kakuzu didn't help Hidan remove Deidara's clothes. He just watched with a hard gaze and tightened his grip on Deidara when Hidan needed him to. 

"Look at his ass, Kakuzu." Hidan said with a smirk. He pushed Deidara against the bed to have him bend over and put his ass on display. Hidan ran his fingers on the sides of each cheek and gave a rough smack. "Oh man, Deidara. You really do have the perfect fuckable ass, don't you?" Hidan purred and looked to Kakuzu. "He's mine first."

"Whatever gets you to shut up." Kakuzu said flatly. If Hidan didn't know him better, he'd assume Kakuzu was completely uninterested. It was the very narrowed gaze and the obvious tent in his pants that gave him away.

"Hey let up on the mouth strings a bit, I wanna know what our alpha has to say." Hidan said with a chuckle. Once Kakuzu removed the threads, Deidara turned to Hidan angrily. His face flushed with embarrassment and irritation.

"What the hell are you doing?! Hm!?" Hidan dropped to his knees and spread Deidara's cheeks apart. After slicking his fingers up with his own wetness, he pushed a finger to Deidara's entrance and just rubbed it lightly. With everything they did, he could tell Deidara was turned on, he just didn't want to admit it. It's hard to not notice the smell of a horny alpha, in fact, Kakuzu could probably smell it, it was so strong. 

"Shut the fuck up, Deidara. You want to be treated like a slut." He slid his finger in and Deidara's back arched slightly. "Look how fucking turned on you are right now. Was this like a fantasy of yours or some shit? Being bound and gagged by two guys? Fuck, for the love of Jashin, Deidara. You really are tight. I can't wait to fuck you."

"F-fuck me?!" Deidara started to squirm which only made Kakuzu's threads tighten their hold on him more and pin him to the bed so he couldn't move. He just stood there with his legs spread out,, bent over the bed. "Let go of me!" He hissed and Kakuzu chuckled.

"Can't tell me what to do alpha, you have a better chance at telling your omega what to do. And honestly, that isn't saying much at all." Hidan shoved another finger inside Deidara. Not so much prepping him as he was just teasing Deidara's hold. Wanting to reduce the proud alpha to a begging mess by the end of it. 

"Damn fucking right. Why don't you try to use your alpha voice on me, princess?" Hidan scoffed, using the nickname mockingly. Insulting an alpha's gender was something that angered them greatly. Deidara, however, let out a strangled whine and Hidan smirked at the new scent. "You like being demeaned, don't you princess?"

"Fuck you." Deidara growled and Hidan looked to Kakuzu.

"Don't let him fool you. He smells like he's aching for it." Hidan leaned in and bit Deidara's cheek, puncturing the skin with his fangs. Deidara whined. "Just making sure you know who you belong to. Kakuzu, I'm decent at sharing, do you want to claim him too?" Hidan licked the blood and was pleasantly surprised to see Kakuzu actually got off the bed and removed his mask. He stood behind Hidan and tilted his head slightly eyeing Deidara's sun-kissed flesh with greedy eyes. "You're picking your spot?" Kakuzu nodded. 

Normally, bites to claim others was done so on the neck. It was the easiest seen. Hidan wanted it to be as embarrassing as possible. If someone is claimed, the person who claimed them becomes a part of their scent. Since Hidan bit Deidara, others would be able to smell the essence of Hidan on him. Being claimed by two people though wasn't really done. If it was, Kakuzu and Hidan hadn't heard of it.

"You already smell like me." Hidan said with a vicious grin. "Come on, Kakuzu, I want him reeking of us." Kakuzu flipped Deidara over easily with the threads and had Deidara laying on the bed on his back with his legs dangling off the bed and spread out. "Look how fuckin hard he is." Hidan practically giggled, giddy with glee. Kakuzu walked over to Deidara and spread his legs apart. Beta's teeth were normally smaller than everyone elses, Kakuzu's were still quite menacing. 

Kakuzu bit down into the fleshy part of Deidara's inner thigh. Hidan watched with amusement how Deidara's cock throbbed and a pearl of precum rolled down the length. 

"Mmm, you smell so good now." Hidan hummed. After licking up the blood, Kakuzu pulled away and turned to Hidan.

"You better take him before I do." Hidan frowned at the threat. 

"No, he fucked me first so I fuck him first. You can take his mouth, it's fuckin big enough." Kakuzu raised an eyebrow. Like Hidan could talk about who's mouth was big or not. Hidan flipped Deidara over again and looked appraisingly at Deidara's ass again. "I can't fuckin get over how nice your ass is, princess. Like you were made to be fucked. You must've been so sad when you realized you were an alpha so you'd be looked at as the dominant one in fucking." Hidan slicked himself up so he was completely covered with lubrication. He still wore his pants, doing so on purpose. "Go on, Kakuzu, I wanna see you fuck his mouth."

"You're demanding for an omega." Kakuzu chided but went along with Hidan's plan. He took his cock out of his pants and situated himself in front of Deidara. 

"I'm not-" Kakuzu's fingers laced themselves in Deidara's hair and he gripped hard. Deidara winced and let out a whine. 

"You will." Kakuzu's voice was a deep, dangerous purr. 

"Just start sucking, princess. Let Kakuzu use your mouth like a cocksleeve." Hidan started to push his finger inside Deidara. The head of Kakuzu's cock was right against Deidara's lips and he was purposefully keeping his mouth pressed shut.

"Care to help out, Hidan?" Hidan grinned, feeling all too generous. He shoved his finger deep into Deidara in order to lightly graze against Deidara's prostate. Deidara's jaw un-tensed and he let out a noise, making his mouth relaxed enough that Kakuzu could push himself into. To his surprise, it didn't take any prompting after to get Deidara to do anything. Deidara licked and sucked on his own.

"Mmm, how's his mouth, Kuzu?" Hidan asked, now fucking Deidara was three of his fingers. 

"Acceptable." Kakuzu said evenly. That irritated Deidara to no end. Acceptable? 

Eventually Deidara couldn't take it anymore. Hidan was driving him crazy and then he just pulled out his fingers. Deidara's jaw was getting sore, Kakuzu was quite thick and nothing he did seemed to bring Kakuzu any closer to finishing. 

"What exactly are you waiting for?" Kakuzu finally asked.

"I want him to beg for it."

"Can't really do that right now, he's occupied." Hidan pouted slightly. 

"Hey princess, you want me to fill that hole of yours?" Hidan whispered, leaning in and grinding against Deidara's cheeks. "I will gladly take you either way, it's just, I want to know that my alpha wants me to top him." Deidara was so hard, he felt like he would do anything. He still had his alpha pride though and couldn't bring himself to beg like Hidan wanted. "What a pity."

"Just fuck him, Hidan. You'll realize he wants it when he cums without us touching him. 

"You're right, Kuzu. I'm gonna fuck you so hard you're gonna cum all over yourself. Then we'll see where your alpha pride is. Don't worry, princess. After today, you'll be begging us to fuck you like this again." That was all the warning Hidan gave Deidara before he shoved his cock roughly inside. Deidara howled as loud as he could with Kakuzu in his mouth, feeling like he was being ripped in two. "Oh he's even tighter than I thought. Oh, Jashin, you feel fucking good. It's actually kind of painful. Don't worry, princess, I'll fuck you good enough so it won't hurt as bad when Kakuzu gets his dick in here. He's a lot bigger than me as you can tell." Which was an understatement. Hidan wasn't exactly small, but Kakuzu was filling up Deidara's entire mouth and there was still more than half left outside of Deidara's mouth.

Without waiting, Hidan just started to roughly thrust into Deidara, rocking the entire bed against the side wall. Pain shot up Deidara's back and down his legs. It gave him a headache with how rough Hidan was being. Tears rolled down his cheek, he tried to distract Kakuzu from his tears by taking him in further. Kakuzu grabbed Deidara by the hair again and pushed himself down Deidara's throat. The feeling hurt, but it momentarily distracted him from Hidan's vigorous abuse. With each thrust from Hidan, Kakuzu's cock got lodged deeper down Deidara's throat until he couldn't breathe. His heart was hammering in his chest and Kakuzu's hips started thrusting as he fucked Deidara's mouth with little restraint. 

Having his oxygen cut off and Hidan behind him violently pounding into him, Deidara's body reacted.

Deidara came. His knot swelled and his cock just poured cum all over the bed under him. He came so hard he felt lightheaded. That could also be the lack of oxygen.

Kakuzu was kind enough to pull out so Deidara could gasp in enough air to ground himself.

"Shit, I knew you'd fucking like that. Kuzu, we got an alpha to cum without even touching him. Oh shit, that's fucking hot. Oh fuck, I'm gonna cum." Hidan's thrusts were jerky and erratic and he finally came with a hiss. He collected himself enough to look at Kakuzu as he pulled his softening cock out. "Did you want a turn?" The thought of being taken again so soon had Deidara whine. Just that alone had Kakuzu make up his mind. He got off the bed and moved Deidara so he wasn't half off the bed anymore but laying on his back. Hidan climbed up next to him and Kakuzu didn't give any heads up of any kind and continued the rough assault. Hidan leaned in and bit down on Deidara's nipple. Deidara whined and arched his back at the tingling feeling of pleasure. While Kakuzu pleasured himself with Deidara's body, Hidan began to suck and nip on different areas of Deidara's body to see him react to it. 

Considering the entire time Hidan was fucking Deidara, Kakuzu was using Deidara's mouth, it wasn't much of a surprise when Kakuzu came shortly after entering Deidara. 

"Fuck. Hidan, he was tight." Kakuzu grunted after catching his breath. Hidan grinned.

"Yeah and I fucking loosened him up for you. You're welcome." Hidan chuckled and laid back on his bed. Deidara didn't say anything when Kakuzu released him from the threads and wiped his face from the dried tears. He now noticed that while he was completely naked, they weren't. A power play if he'd ever seen one.

Deidara laid in the bed and stared up at the ceiling, unsure what to do at this point. Did he leave? Did he yell at them? His mind was clouded with confusion. He looked over at Hidan. Hidan was smiling softly with his eyes closed. He glanced over at Kakuzu who's eyes were also shut but he was thinking, Deidara could tell. 

"So?" Hidan said eventually and looked at Deidara. He stared at him expectantly and Deidara pushed his eyebrows together. Was this his way of telling Deidara to leave? Deidara slowly sat up and hissed at the pain in his backside. "I wouldn't move for a while if I were you." Hidan said cheekily. "That's fucking payback for my heat." Deidara wanted to argue with him but he was too tired. He laid back down, putting his head on Hidan's chest to feel the heat of it. It was comforting. 

The alpha within him suddenly flared alive, just long enough to sink his teeth into Hidan's neck. He was rougher than he should've been but he figured he had the right to be, all things considered. Hidan moaned at the bite and that made Kakuzu open his eyes and looked over at the two curiously. He frowned at the display and watched Deidara lick the blood clean.

"You claiming me, alpha? How cute." Hidan purred and Deidara glared at him. 

"You're mine." Hidan chuckled at the growl in Deidara's voice. He knew Deidara was an alpha but he was too damn cute. Deidara turned to glare at Kakuzu. Kakuzu was already glaring back. Deidara's eyes dipped to Kakuzu's neck and he looked almost curious about it. 

"Did you want to claim me too, alpha?" The voice seemed sarcastic, almost. Certainly not impressed. Deidara scoffed but leaned in curiously. To his delight, Kakuzu tilted his neck to the side allowing Deidara access. He bit down and felt Kakuzu let out a puff of breath. After, Deidara laid back down in the middle of them feeling more drained than ever. 

Much to his satisfaction, despite how aggressive the two were in bed, both of them curled their bodies in towards Deidara. Deidara smirked at the information that the zombie combo were cuddlers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) alrighty, so I write a lot of smut for my stories (in fact if you read Bad Romance theres a Deidan smut scene in chapter 9 which I wrote right before this) but rarely does anyone mention the smut in the comments. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU GUYS WANT THE SMUT. TELL ME PLEASE. There has actually been a few times where I vaguely mentioned characters slept together instead of writing it since I didn't know if people wanted me to write it or not.  
> 2) Who is the bad guy in Itachi's notes? Who wanted him to be an omega? (And let's see if you can guess why)  
> 3) Who should be the next couple to have a smut chapter?  
> 4) lmao I kinda want to draw a Sasuke/Gaara baby. Tell me the genetics you think would be best. (ex. Gaara's hair color, Sasuke's eye shape ect ect)  
> 5) Lets get some parenting preferences for our new mommies-to-be (like who would breastfeed vs formula feed, who would swaddle, who would cosleep ect.)


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto finishes the pages  
> Gaara makes a decision  
> Hidan finds out he's pregnant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok comments today will be short and sweet because I'm tired AF  
>  **Vivi** : I can understand that, but if no one tells me I feel awkward for even writing it lol. Thank you!  
>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : Aww thanks I'm glad I write good smut. Haha I would love to do a KisaIta smut scene again I love them/ Maybe next time.  
>  **sakaeamara** : I understand you there. Thank you for your input on the parenting! Yeah, Orochimaru is an asshole in this but he's not going to rape anyone, don't worry.  
>  **MirSama** : Aw I just pictured Deidara taking over parenting BOTH babies, even Yen. My heart grew 237 sizes.   
> **Bumblebees_Girl** : Thank you for the compliment! Thank you for your input with everything. Very helpful! And I noticed you commented and I was confused because I was like "these are answers to last chapter... does she know theres a new chapter?" lol  
>  **Kuko** : Thank you! I worked hard on it lol There will be more threesome scenes. I love those three. I don't ship Gaara and Sasuke either but their kid came out cute AF   
> **Narutard** : Yass smut. Thank you for your input (don't worry, we will get Deidara's hands in on the action ;D lmao)   
> **Orcana** : Same I love them. I needed to know Kakuzu cuddled because reasons. I'm glad you enjoy the smut.  
>  **GabrielaTaisho** : I love Kakuzu too :) KisaIta is my OTP so I'm glad you love them too.  
>  **DaarRena** : jfc, your comment is probably longer than the chapter lmao. Thank you for your incredibly details comment, it was a nice read. I wanted a bossy Hidan so we got it. Thank you for your breakdown of Itachi's notes. It's nice to see someone put an incredible amount of thought into it. I can't say anything, I don't want to give anything away! There's actually no smut this chapter, I don't know when the next smut scene will be because everyone is on bad terms right now (oops) And I feel you, I have really no attachment to Yamato. Kakuzu's feelings will slowly be pulled out from him but yes he does really love Hidan. I don't want to give too much away, again, but Kakuzu will eventually come around (when the inevitable claiming scene happens) and we'll learn more about what's on his mind. During Hidan's heat, they didn't have a threesome because Kakuzu didn't want to share Hidan. He has no qualms with sharing Deidara because in the scene they're mostly treating Deidara as a toy, it's easy for him not to think about it. (plus, in the way they were doing this, if you noticed, Kakuzu had direct eyesight pointed towards Hidan the entire time. So yeah he was getting a blowjob from Deidara but he was looking at the faces Hidan was making.) But you're on the right track with your musings. You'll just have to wait a bit to have everything laid out! I don't like Sasuke and Gaara together either, I just thought their child would be the cutest thing ever and wanted to draw it lol. I just wanted to see your headcanons for the maternal sides of the characters. Hidan finds out he's pregnant this chapter. I love your ideas and the thought of Hidan putting his babies to sleep by ranting about his recent murder streak makes me laugh. Again, thank you for your comment, it was very entertaining to read.

Chapter 30:

Naruto couldn't get the lingering words out of his head.

_I love my village and I love my clan, but how much more can they take from me? What else do I have to give? I don't have anything left for them to take. What are they going to ask of me now?_

He stared at that page for what seemed like hours. He couldn't help but feel an aching sadness in his heart. He hated everything in that moment. He hated the village elders, he hated the Uchiha clan, he hated the third Hokage, he hated EVERYONE that allowed this to even happen. 

Naruto read up to when Itachi was 13 years old. There was still more to be read but he wasn't sure it went all the way up to the massacre. There didn't seem to be enough pages. Was it missing? Did he just give up? Naruto wouldn't even be able to blame him.

Studying Enochian with 7 clones for a week straight essentially all day long, made him pretty fluent in the language. He could do anything he set his mind to, this wasn't different. Sasuke tried to learn it as fast as Naruto, he even got angry when he didn't. He was getting there. Naruto wouldn't tell Sasuke that even Sakura was further ahead of him though.

"Naruto, you're crying." Sakura said quietly, not to alert Sasuke. He decided to study on the other side of the library. "Are you alright?"

"No. I hate this." He tossed the paper to the ground. "Why are we even reading this? I feel dirty. This isn't my business and it just... It makes me hate the village. I grew up an orphan. I didn't have anyone. But Itachi? He had a whole clan. He was adored. He was a genius. And to read the things that happened, just makes me feel scummy for even hating him to begin with." Naruto rubbed his temples. "I don't know how much longer I can read this for. I've read too much."

"Does it... Does it say who made him an omega?" Sakura asked quietly and Naruto scowled and shook his head.

"He's tight lipped about it, even in his journal. There's a few things that mention traits the guy has, but nothing damning."

"Do you think he wrote about... the night?" Sakura asked and Naruto for once was able to stare at Sakura oddly.

"Do you think he killed everyone then sat down to write in his journal before he left?" Sakura blushed and sagged her shoulders.

"You're right. I just... I was hoping we would get some sort of closure on that." Naruto eyed the stack of papers he'd yet to read.

"Give me until the end of the day. I may have an answer for you."

***

"Where the fuck are you going?" Hidan asked, leaning against Deidara's bedroom door frame while eating a banana. Deidara looked up at him. Hidan could tell he was pissed.

"I have a fucking mission." He said with a scowl.

"Why do you seem so mad about it?" Hidan asked curiously and Deidara walked over to Hidan and stood in front of him. Hidan caught a whiff of the scent. "What the fuck? Why do you smell like an omega?"

"Since Itachi is too fucking sick to move, the mission to act as a goddamn concubine is left to me, hm. And no one wants an alpha."

"...If they don't want an alpha, why don't they send me? I'm an omega." Hidan asked slowly. He knew he wasn't the smartest but still, it didn't make sense.

"They want a woman." Deidara said, face burning and a heavy glare set on his features. Hidan reacted how he thought he would. He laughed hysterically. "I wouldn't laugh if I were you, hm."

"Why the fuck not? This is fucking gold!" 

"Because since I'm going undercover, I can't have sex with you before I leave." Deidara answered simply and Hidan stopped laughing instantly.

"Wait what? How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know. Depends. A week?" Hidan scowled and it was Deidara's turn to smirk.

"But have fun with Kakuzu, hm." Hidan would surely go crazy this week. He knew it.

***

If Gaara thought Lee was annoyingly overbearing before, that was a walk in the park compared to how he acted now. He could hardly go anywhere by himself and honestly he was going insane.

Temari tried to talk Lee out of being clingy with Gaara but Lee was an alpha and it was hard to make him see reason when his omega was involved. 

Finally, they were able to get Lee away from Gaara by Kankuro insisting he needed help with a trivial mission that didn't require leaving the village and Gaara was completely red in the face from anger.

"Temari, if he doesn't stop this, I am going to go insane." Gaara stated firmly and she sighed and nodded. For a week they'd been dealing with Lee's strange behavior. "If Kabuto possess my body again, there isn't anything Lee could do about it by being there when it happens. Clearly he seeks Lee out anyway. I think at this point I'm more irritated at Lee than Orochimaru."

"I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with your mate, honey." Temari said soothingly and sat on Gaara's desk. He sifted through paperwork and was happy to see that the uniforms he designed a while ago were completely done and given to his ANBU team. He read their reports on it and was proud to see that they were breathable, easy to move in, and despite being completely black, they didn't absorb heat like the other uniform did.

"At least I got some good news." Gaara said with a sigh and shook his head, reclining in his chair. 

"Oh, Gaara, I'm happy for you this is awesome. I know you worked hard on the uniforms." Temari said brightly and Gaara tried to smile but it came out fake looking. He was just so frustrated it was hard to even pretend. "Have you tried talking to him?"

"Obviously, Temari. He's dumb though." Gaara said with a slight pout of his lips. Temari stifled a giggle.

"I'm sorry, you just sound so much like a normal couple right now, it's cute. I know he's annoying you though so I'm sorry." Gaara just sighed.

"I want everything to get better with him but it's just one thing after another. I know he wants to protect me but I'm the Kazekage, I don't need to be protected. I can do it myself." Gaara said with a hardened look. Temari frowned at him.

"Sweetheart, he knows you can protect yourself. He just loves you."

"Well love is annoying." Temari smiled.

"Yes, honey. I know it is." She placated and in that moment, Gaara looked like he was 6 years old again. 

***

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Kisame asked and Itachi gave him a sideways look and Kisame put his hands up defensively. "Sorry. I'll shut up."

Itachi was irritated more than anything. Since the mission he was supposed to be given was given to Deidara instead, that meant Kisame was going to team up with Deidara instead of Sasori. Sasori was annoyed that he was supposed to stay at the base and Itachi hated the fact that Pein didn't send him on a mission because Itachi often didn't feel well. He was doing much better now, but they didn't want to take the chance.

So now Deidara was taking his partner for an entire week and Itachi wanted to see his blood. Which honestly was a complete overreaction but he couldn't help himself. He was just so angry.

"Hey Itachi." Kisame whispered and Itachi looked up with an angry pout that Kisame kissed away. Just one soft kiss and Itachi was putty in Kisame's hands. Itachi's arms wrapped around Kisame's neck and Kisame suddenly felt more wanted than he ever had. It's why he wasn't angry at Itachi for being upset he was leaving. That meant Itachi was upset he was leaving. He wasn't even aware Itachi could feel this way. "I will rush back to you, you know that, right?" Itachi's cheeks turned a light pink and Kisame smiled at that. Oh how he adored pregnant, moody, emotional Itachi. It was much different than his normal stoic self and Kisame was glad for it. Like he got to learn about something no one else knew.

"You better." The threat was spoken softly, the only reason Kisame knew it was a threat was because he knew Itachi.

"I promise. I don't even want to go. Next mission I get, I will make sure it's with you." He said sincerely and Itachi nodded slowly. 

"Okay."

"And I'm sorry to say this but I'm pretty sure Sasori is going to try to pick up a mission. He may end up with Kakuzu so you might get stuck with Hidan." Itachi just stared at Kisame and Kisame grinned at him. "Don't hurt the messenger."

"I'm not going to leave this room." Itachi decided.

"Well make sure Konan brings you food then. Now I have to go. Goodbye, Itachi-san." Itachi stood up from the bed and drew Kisame down for a hug. It hurt Kisame's lower back but it was cute to see Itachi on his tippy-toes in order to hug him. 

"Goodbye Kisame. I'll be waiting for you." Kisame kissed Itachi's cheek. 

"I'm happy to hear that." Kisame breathed into Itachi's ear and goosebumps covered Itachi's body. 

With one last kiss, Kisame left.

***

"That's it. There's nothing else." Naruto said as he looked at the stack of papers. He read every single one. Nothing mentioned the massacre at all. The annoying thing about it was, there was vague mention of the person who was the reason behind Itachi's turning into an omega making him do something but it never said what. And the last page he translated seemed to cut off in the middle of the sentence. There was more somewhere but he didn't know where to look. 

While Sasuke was occupied later in the day, him and Sakura snuck off. Sasuke became a bit unhinged as of late because of the stress of the new information. He wondered what Sasuke would do when he read the rest of the journal and honestly considered burning it all so Sasuke couldn't find out. These were personal musings from Itachi's journal and he already felt terribly about reading them, he didn't want Sasuke to hate Itachi because of it too.

Sakura touched a door.

"I think this was Itachi's bedroom." She said quietly and Naruto nodded. She pushed it opened. 

To their surprise, it was still in relatively good shape. Why Sasuke hadn't destroyed the room in a fit of rage, no one knew. Naruto was thankful though. He was sure it would break Itachi's heart to know how badly Sasuke hated him and wanted him dead. Wouldn't it?

All Naruto knew about Itachi for sure was Itachi loved his brother more than anything in the world. So why he would manipulate Sasuke's feelings to feel this deep hatred towards him, he would never understand. Especially if they didn't find the final pages. How many pages were there after that one? How much more could Itachi go through before he eventually snapped and just killed everyone? What was the final straw?

Naruto and Sakura looked everywhere in Itachi's room with no luck. The only thing Naruto could think of was bringing Neji or Hinata here to scan the room with their Byakugan for papers but he didn't know if Sasuke would throw a fit if he knew someone else was at the compound. 

"It has to be somewhere..." Naruto said with a tone that sounded a lot like defeat. "It can't end there. He can't be done."

"Naruto, maybe he got interrupted. Maybe there isn't more of the story."

"No! There has to be! I read 4 years of his life and nothing remotely points to him just deciding to kill his entire clan! Based on the dates, he should do it a month after his last entry. How does someone write diligently for years only to just stop in the middle of a sentence? It doesn't make sense!" Sakura looked at Naruto sadly and nodded slowly. 

"Then we keep looking." She whispered and Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. We'll find it, believe it." Naruto didn't sound like he believed anything.

***

"Fuck!" Itachi winced when he heard the loud voice snap. He looked over his shoulder to see Hidan, shirtless as always. Hidan was covering his face which was strange.

"You ok?" Itachi asked slowly and Hidan peeked through his fingers and groaned. 

"What the hell are you eating?" He asked and Itachi glanced down.

"Uh, garlic herb bread?" He said slowly and Hidan's hands slid down to his mouth. He looked green. "You going to be sick?" Itachi asked and Hidan gave a pathetic nod and instantly threw up in the garbage.

"Fuck, Itachi. That bread smells fucking terrible. Shit." Hidan cursed, scowling over at Itachi. Itachi glanced down at the bread, then over at Hidan.

"It's been about two weeks since your heat, right?" Hidan frowned at that and pointed to Itachi.

"No." He stopped Itachi's point in its tracks. "Kakuzu and Deidara used protection. They had to have. I mean, neither of them want kids." Itachi raised an eyebrow while he put his bread in a bag to cover the scent of it. 

"You sure about that?" The simple question seemed to completely break Hidan and his eyes just opened widely.

"Sonofabitch. If they really fucking knocked me up I swear to Jashin, I will sacrifice them the second they get back from their fucking missions." Itachi nodded at him.

"I also didn't want to be pregnant. Here I am." Itachi stood up and grabbed a piece of fruit and walked over to Hidan and leaned over and sniffed. "Too soon to tell but your scent is different, I think."

"Fuck me sideways." Hidan huffed and stood up. "How the fuck do I know for sure?"

"Doctor or pregnancy test?" Itachi offered and Hidan considered it.

"Alright, let's go." Itachi blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"You're coming with me to town. Come on." Itachi must have been extremely stir crazy but he actually decided not to put up a fight and nodded slowly.

***

"Fuck me hard in the ass on a Tuesday." Hidan hissed, staring at the pregnancy test with obvious distress. "What the fuck?"

"Well the two lines means you're pregnant, Hidan." Itachi commented dryly and Hidan threw the pregnancy test against the wall. To his annoyance, it hadn't shattered like he intended. "Breaking the test won't make it less true."

"I can't be pregnant, Itachi!" Hidan ran his fingers through his hair anxiously. "Fuck!"

"Why not?" Itachi was casually eating a bag of chips as the two of them sat in a café bathroom in the nearby village.

"It's against my religion!" Itachi blinked.

"Then how do they get followers?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hidan, you're the only person I know that is Jashinian. How else do they get followers if you can't be born into the religion? It doesn't make sense."

"I don't fucking know. They take it as you're taking souls from Jashin. You aren't supposed to have children." Itachi frowned at that. It still didn't make sense to him.

"Then raise the child as a Jashinian." That alone had Hidan pause. "What?"

"Holy fuck, I don't know who's kid it is." Hidan was back to panicking. Itachi actually preferred this Hidan to the normal one. While yes, Hidan was stressing out and cursing up a storm, he wasn't laughing manically so that was nice. "Fuck! Why didn't they use a Jashin-damned condom!" Hidan kicked the cabinet and Itachi sighed. He also thought the same fucking thing with Kisame. Kisame hadn't used a condom when he took Itachi for those three days... "Itachi...?"

"Hm?" Itachi looked up and ate another chip.

"Your scent is pretty... uh..." Itachi blushed and looked away.

"That happens." Hidan sighed.

"Awesome. Let's go and try not to get molested by random ass alphas because you're horny for no reason." He ushered Itachi out of the bathroom and Itachi's eyes stared holes into the floor, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. How embarrassing was it that there were people that could smell his arousal. All because he thought of Kisame not using a condom- "Itachi. Stop fucking thinking, for the love of Christ. Do you know how stressed I have to be to refer to someone else's god?"

"Sorry..." Itachi cleared his throat and gripped the bag of chips tightly in his hand. 

"Let's just get back to the hideout..." 

What a strange situation for Hidan to be the voice of reason and Itachi to be the one who was ridiculously turned on for no reason...

***

Gaara knew he was being possessed. That was the strange thing. They hadn't done anything odd. Kabuto would take control of his body and just bring him to random spots and then let go of the control. Not for any reason.

When he thought about it, he felt there was a reason. The reason was to show Gaara that no matter what, Kabuto still had control over him. And that was frustrating.

The final straw was when not only did Kabuto bring him outside of the village, but in the sand he wrote 'There's only one way I'll stop' and Gaara knew he meant that Gaara would have to go to find Orochimaru. He just didn't understand why Kabuto didn't control him himself to go. Maybe that was the next step and he was just seeing how far he could push Gaara before he snapped?

There was nothing Gaara could do that made him feel safe in the situation he was in right now. He was always on edge, hoping Kabuto wouldn't possess him in front of Lee, knowing fully well Lee would hold the leash on even tighter if that happened. He was finally talking Lee into backing off for a bit. He even made it so the meetings he had to go to were strictly for the Kazekage and the Advisor so he didn't have to deal with Lee 24/7. He felt like a terrible mate but Lee really needed to calm down.

"Gaara, are you alright?" Kankuro asked while Temari was talking to Lee in a separate room about... Gaara didn't even care. 

"Not really." Gaara rubbed his temples. "Kankuro, I need you to promise me something."

"Yeah, anything." Kankuro said honestly.

"I need to go somewhere. Promise that you'll take care of the village and Temari while I'm gone. Don't let Lee know I've left." Kankuro's eyes widened. "Please, don't try to talk me out of this. It's really important."

"Where are you going?" Kankuro finally asked.

"That's classified, Kankuro." Gaara said and Kankuro frowned. "As your Kazekage, I need you to promise-"

"No. I'm not promising shit unless you tell me where you're going. What if something bad happens and I don't even know which fucking direction you're going in?" Gaara could understand Kankuro's annoyance, but if he told him about going to the Sound village, Kankuro wouldn't let him leave either.

"As I said, classified. I've been speaking to the Hokage, and perhaps she has a way to fix me, but I don't need Lee knowing in case it doesn't work. I need to do this alone, I need to be alone."

"What if I go-"

"Kankuro, I need you here. Please." Kankuro looked pained but in the end he gave a curt nod. "Thank you."

"When are you leaving?" Kankuro asked and Gaara frowned. 

"Next week. It gives me time to get things in order so there won't be much to worry about other than whichever missions come our way and how to divvy them out. I'll make sure everything is running smoothly." Kankuro gave a stiff nod. "Thank you."

***

Late that night, Gaara looked at Lee sound asleep. There was one thing for sure, slipping sake into his drink was sure to make Lee sleep like a brick. Just enough to do that, no more. He didn't need a drunken fist episode.

Gaara was able to sense the chakras in the house and they all seemed pretty stationary. That meant they were asleep. Gaara looked at Lee. He loved Lee, he truly did with all of his heart. He knew it would physically pain him to leave Lee behind but he needed to do this on his own. He couldn't have Lee there or it would mess everything up.

He had to leave tonight. He told Kankuro a week to give Kankuro the impression he had time to change Gaara's mind. Once they woke up and saw Gaara was gone, Kankuro would believe he had all the information. Hopefully they didn't seek out the Hokage too soon.

Packing as lightly as possible, Gaara snuck out of the house and out of the village without using the gates. He couldn't risk anyone seeing him. He had to go.

It would take nearly a week of walking but he needed to go and he needed to go now.

While he could, he used the sand to move him along, not wanting to waste any energy. Moving his sand did little to his jinchuriki chakra reserves so he had no qualms doing so. Now he could only hope he could move fast enough that Lee wouldn't be able to catch up with him.

***

Lee woke up the next morning feeling strange. Why did he feel so hungover? 

He groaned and rubbed his head, the light was too much to look at so he drew the blinds. He didn't want to do anything today. He pushed his eyebrows together in thought. Gaara wasn't in bed so it was probably late enough for him to be at the Kazekage's office. Lee laid back down in bed. He was sure he could sleep for a little while longer.

***

Kakuzu finished the mission fairly quickly. Sasori was surprised with how efficiently he moved and watched him with curious eyes. It took a day for them to finish everything and then they were on their way back. Sasori didn't need to sleep so the fact that Kakuzu didn't want to stop at a motel and just wanted to go back to the hideout wasn't really a bad idea.

Sasori hoped Kakuzu knew his limits. With the amount of chakra he used, he must've been tired. Why did he want to get back to the hideout so quickly anyway?

Another thing that surprised Sasori was the fact of how fast Kakuzu was going. It wasn't difficult to keep up with him, just surprising. He didn't think Kakuzu cared much about being back at the hideout but he seemed pretty adamant about getting back.

A few hours later and Sasori saw Kakuzu visibly relax as they approached the cave opening. Neither of them had spoken to each other but suddenly it made sense. Kakuzu was rushing back to Hidan. He hid his smirk. Why was he doing that? The two weren't even mated. 

Kakuzu gave Sasori a simple nod and walked down the corridors of the hideout. He opened Hidan's bedroom door and frowned to see he wasn't there. Sensing chakra wasn't his strongest suit, as he wasn't a sensory type ninja, but he could make do with what he had. He focused and the only place that had two chakra signatures was... Itachi's bedroom? Kakuzu walked slowly until he reached the room and pressed his ear to the door trying to listen. He couldn't hear anything. How strange would it be for him to just walk in? It could be Kisame in there, maybe he got back from the mission? Kakuzu frowned and decided that he was just brash enough to open the door.

He was met with the sight of Itachi and Hidan sitting on a bed eating candy. He stared for a while, the scene not making any sense to him.

"You. Fuck." Hidan pointed to Kakuzu and Kakuzu raised an eyebrow. 

"If you two are going to fight, do it elsewhere." Itachi chided and continued to read his book.

"As far as I'm aware, I haven't done anything to instigate a fight." Kakuzu drawled and Hidan jumped off the bed and had to correct his footing, nearly falling over. Once he was even, he stormed up to Kakuzu and shoved him out of the room. Kakuzu would've fought back, had he not looked at the strange expression on Hidan and Itachi's faces. Hidan closed Itachi's door and stormed off to his bedroom. Obviously, Kakuzu followed curiously. Hidan better get to the point quickly, as Kakuzu was not a patient man and didn't care to be. If Hidan shoved him like that again, he would be sure to add Hidan's heart to his collection.

Kakuzu closed Hidan's door behind them and Hidan ripped into him. Kakuzu had no idea what Hidan was yelling about but there were more curse words than he could count. The second Hidan put his hands on Kakuzu with malicious intent, Kakuzu had him thrown against the wall and pinned there with his threads. 

"You better get to the point. I'm not a patient man." Kakuzu's growl reverberated off Hidan's walls.

"You fuck, let go of me! Goddamn heathen bastard!" Kakuzu had to hand it to him, Hidan really did look upset. Whatever was wrong with him, clearly meant a big enough deal to him.

"Why should I do that?" Kakuzu tightened his grip, his threads squeezing Hidan's entire body tightly. He noticed the panic in Hidan's eyes at that.

"Fuck! Kakuzu! I'm pregnant let me go!" Kakuzu's threads dropped Hidan to the floor like a sack of potatoes and retreated back. Kakuzu stared at Hidan in shock. Why was he so surprised? It wasn't like they actively tried to not knock Hidan up. Kakuzu was surprised by his lack of self-control. He couldn't be a father, he didn't even like kids.

However, Deidara also slept with Hidan so there was a possibility that the kid wasn't even his, right? There was a 50/50 shot the kid wasn't even his so Kakuzu could take those odds.

But what if the kid WAS his? What would he do then?

"Fucking Kakuzu! Snap out of it and fucking talk to me you piece of shit!" Hidan seethed and Kakuzu stared down at the omega on the floor. 

"I have to leave." Kakuzu turned around and left the room. Hidan stared with a clenched jaw at the spot Kakuzu was standing. Obviously he didn't expect tears of joy, but still. Kakuzu could lend him a fucking ear. He was the pregnant one after all. What kind of sick bullshit even was this?

"Great, I'm pregnant and he's the moody one. How fucking fair is that?" Hidan muttered to himself. "Dickhead." He stood up from the ground and crawled onto his bed with a scowl on his face. That damned atheist bastard better come back. He would be sure to rip out each and every one of his fucking hearts and crush them with his bare hands. "I don't know if he's your dad or not, but man, I'm fucking sorry." Hidan said and stared at the ceiling. "This is fantastic. A group of S-ranked criminals and apparently none of us know what fucking safe sex is. Jashin-sama, I vow to bring my child up as a strict follower of the Jashinian religion. Forgive me for my sin."

Hidan rolled to his side and stared at the wall. Was that even good enough? If someone from Jashin's following were to show up, would they kill him for his apparent disregard for the religion? Hidan hoped Deidara took the news better. Right now he didn't have Kakuzu or even his religion. What more could they take from him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh shit so much drama!   
> 1) Do you think there is more to the journal or did Itachi stop writing?  
> 2) Do you think Lee will make it to Gaara before Gaara reaches the hideout?  
> 3) How did you enjoy the awkward reluctant friendship of Hidan and Itachi? lmao  
> 4) I should have another vote... uhh... ok if I do a flashback, do you prefer a Kakashi/Obito flashback or a flashback of Itachi's past?
> 
> Oh I drew the Gaara/Sasuke child lol. As a kid and an adult. We have Gaara's eye color, Gaara's hair color (slightly darker though with a black strip) but the Uchiha bangs goin on and Gaara's spiky hair. I wanted to draw a boy because there's already two girls in the story lol. Let me know if you like him!  
> https://smoresiesfanfic.tumblr.com/post/170432373032/so-those-who-read-its-not-unusual-this-is-the


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Who should get a flashback this chapter?**  
>  ObitoKakashi: |||||  
> Itachi: |||
> 
>  **Winner is**  
>  _ **Obito and Kakashi**_  
>  Hope y'all want that angst. Its pretty angsty  
> And theres some KakuHida smut. Holla at me, son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Haaku** : Lol I'm sorry you decided to read that chapter instead of sleeping if it was the middle of the night lol. And you got the winning vote! Kakashi and Obito it is!  
>  **Bumblebees_Girl** : Well your curiousity will be satiated this chapter! Thanks for voting!!  
>  **isis2iris** : Haha well, we'll see~! A lot of this chapter is flashback. and smut. Sorry lol  
>  **OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor** : IKR? I feel like sex ed isn't taught. They're like "heres a kunai go stab someone" "what about this condom. what does it do?" "EGHAD! Those are dangerous!" And to be completely fair, no matter which flashback it was, it was going to be sad.  
>  **Orcana** : Haha me too~! I can't wait to write more of them. Especially with Deidara around since he hates Itachi lmao  
>  **Desbelleschoses** : Thank you very much! Unfortunately, no Itachi flashback lol  
>  **Vivi** : Thank you for voting my dear! I hope you enjoy the chapter!  
>  **Kuko** : lol well I'm still unsure if the child will actually exist. That'll be this chapter's question!  
>  **sakaeamara** : Oh for sure, if it happened Oro would not be keeping that child for long. and HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT DAY!! Thank you for your vote and your answers! I hope you enjoy the flashback this chapter!  
>  **That Random Weeaboo** : I know I aww'd at it too lol. I'm glad you liked it!  
>  **WillHaveAnAccountSoon** : Eyyy I'm glad the smut scene was good enough that you decided to read a 100k WIP. Holla. I love Deidan so much you don't even understand. I'm having them date in like every story because they have like 2 fanfictions and they all stopped being updated during Nam. We don't get a Deidara reaction, but we do get some Hidan Kakuzu bonding time~! I will love that meeting with Pein. "Can y'all just stop? Please? Is anyone else pregnant?" *Zetzu slowly raises his hand*

Chapter Thirty-One:

Naruto braced himself for this. He had all week. But actually dealing with it was something else.

Sasuke figured out a way to learn Enochian faster with his Sharingan. So he was able to read Itachi's journal...

All of Itachi's journal...

At least the parts they had in their possession. The end of the journal was still a mystery. 

Sakura and Naruto stood outside the compound while Sasuke threw the biggest fit they'd ever seen which was honestly saying something because Sasuke had a tendency to throw fits often. He raged for an entire two hours before he calmed down enough to even notice they were there. When his eyes fell to Naruto, they narrowed and he pointed dangerously.

"You." He hissed and Naruto put his hands up defensively. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Naruto frowned.

"Tell you what? There was a lot there." Well, now wasn't the time to be cheeky but Naruto couldn't help it. He was trying to distract himself from the fact that Sasuke knew every dirty detail that happened in Itachi's life from ages 7-12. "Sasuke, honestly I didn't think you should've read any of it..."

"And you could?!" Sasuke snapped heatedly, Naruto glared at him.

"It isn't like I wanted to-"

"Yeah but you didn't stop reading, did you? Where is the last of it? It stopped mid-sentence! Did you hide it?" Sakura frowned.

"No, Sasuke. Naruto was trying to find the last pages. We can't seem to find anything." She admitted softly and Sasuke shook his head. He was so angry he felt like each cell in his body was burning with fury. 

"I'll kill 'em." He shook his head, scowl present on his face.

"Kill who?" Sakura asked and he glared at her.

"Whoever hurt my brother! I'll murder them!" His eyes flashed gold and his fangs elongated. Sasuke's alpha seemed to be taking control.

"Sasuke, we don't even know who it was-"

"Then I'll kill everyone!" Sasuke was breathing heavily, somewhere between furious beyond belief and just incredibly upset. Naruto hated to do this, especially in front of Sakura, but she was a beta and wouldn't smell anything anyway. He made his scent calming and alluring. It was enough to ease Sasuke's fangs to a normal length but he was still very angry.

"Sasuke, please, calm down." Naruto said softly. Using his omega voice was something he never wanted to do because he felt like it made him weak to even have an omega voice. Sasuke calmed down further but didn't look very happy about it. "Don't talk about killing people just yet, we still don't know who did it. We can get revenge after we know for sure." Naruto placated and Sakura gave Naruto a look. Not that she particularly cared about the person responsible paying for their terrible crimes, just the face that if Itachi didn't name names, how high up could this person be?

Sasuke huffed and stormed inside to look at the notes again. To see if there was something he was missing. Naruto frowned at Sakura and they followed him inside. 

Sasuke picked up the last note and scanned it. All over the page to see if there was some form of hint that would let him know if there was more or not.

That's when he saw it. 

Sasuke's jaw clenched tightly and he evened his breathing as best as he could. He held the paper tight in his hands and he turned to face Sakura and Naruto.

"I'm sorry." He whispered and his eyes flared to red. Before they could even defend themselves, he had them knocked out under a genjutsu. Sakura would be able to break it relatively quickly enough for him to not worry about them staying unconscious for too long. 

Sasuke left the house quickly and ran through the compound. Finally, he was able to exit the gates with minimal interruptions and he just ran as fast as he could with the paper fluttering in his hands. He knew where the rest of the pages were. He didn't notice it before, but in just a shade lightly darker than the paper there was a music note at the very bottom.

Orochimaru had his answers. And he would get them.

***

"How very special." Orochimaru said with a deep chuckle. "Kabuto, I do hope you have spare bedrooms available. It seems not only is Gaara on his way, but Sasuke is too. And here I thought I'd have to taunt him more to get him here."

"Both at the same time?" Kabuto looked delighted. "As long as Lee doesn't know where Gaara is headed, we should be fine. I've ingrained the route to our hideout into Gaara's mind so he should know all the shortcuts to get here. Lee knows vaguely where the village is located. We should be fine. Plus, didn't you say that Gaara said he would be on his way to the leaf village?"

"Yes but the leaf village is essentially in the very middle of us and Suna." Orochimaru nodded, knowing that already.

"He would still have to stop there and talk to people. Plus, Gaara got an entire day head start. With his knowledge of the roads to get here, I don't think Lee stands a chance. Just make sure to keep feeding him energy through your bond so he doesn't feel the need to stop."

"You say that as if Gaara slept much anyway." Kabuto said smiling. "But don't you worry, Orochimaru-Sama, I have made sure he has plenty of energy to keep him going." Orochimaru gave a nod of approval.

Orochimaru looked away with a feeling of delight in the pit of his stomach. He loved when a plan came together in the end.

***

Lee woke up feeling even worse than before. Man, what did he eat last night? His stomach felt terrible. 

He stood up and made his way to the bathroom and vomited up stomach acid. When he looked outside he saw it was dark. That was odd. What time was it?

Lee walked downstairs feeling disoriented and weak. Temari and Kankuro looked up at him and any expression on their faces before seeing him changed.

"Lee? Are you alright?" Temari rushed to his side and Lee shook his head slowly.

"I do not feel very well if I am going to be honest with you." He looked around. "Where is Gaara?"

"He's busy right now, he'll be back later." Kankuro answered quickly. In Lee's dampened mind, he nodded. He couldn't focus enough to worry. "Go upstairs. We'll bring you something to eat." Lee nodded and left the room slowly. Kankuro turned to Temari.

"Do you think Gaara did this?" He whispered harshly and Temari frowned tightly.

"I... I don't know." Did her brother have it in him to make his mate sick? 'Have you sent word to the Hokage about Gaara?"

"Yeah I sent her something this morning when I noticed he was gone. Damn Gaara, he couldn't sit still?"

"You should've guessed he didn't tell the truth about waiting a week, but it's fine. He'll be okay. I understand where he's coming from." Kankuro sighed deeply and nodded.

***

Hidan knocked on the door and after waiting a few seconds, he heard movement behind it. Itachi opened his bedroom door and raised an eyebrow.

"I take it, that didn't go according to plan?" He asked and Hidan scowled and stormed into Itachi's room. "Yes, Hidan. Please come in." Itachi said dryly and closed the door. Hidan sat on Kisame's side of Itachi's bed and started eating the ginger candy from before. "What happened?"

"He's a fucking conniving, sinning, decrepit, asshole with a dick that's probably detachable with his threads. That's what." Hidan said and angrily chewed on the candy. 

"... Can he really-?"

"I have no fucking clue. But if he can, then that's fantastic because he can fuck himself with it." Itachi nodded slowly and decided he wouldn't be getting Hidan out of his room anytime soon so just accepted it and sat down next to him. 

"Don't eat too much of the ginger candy, we don't need you getting a burning stomach. These are just to stop or help with nausea."

"Well fan-fucking-tastic because I'm really fucking nauseous. Whether it's from the stupid fucking baby Kakuzu doesn't want to take credit for or just looking at his creepy goddamn eyes, I have no fucking clue." It was then that Itachi was thankful he had a normal relationship with his partner.

Itachi wondered what the hell was going through Kakuzu's mind right now.

***

Kakuzu stared at his wall in front of the desk he had in his room where he normally counted his money.

He was so stressed out at this point that he hadn't even counted his money once.

Not. Once.

Kakuzu started to grind his teeth. What was he going to do with a child? They were loud, smelly, somehow no matter what you fed them, their mouths and hands were ALWAYS red and sticky. It was a scientific fact. Why would he want to deal with that?

Why had he rushed home? He could be sleeping in the damned forest right now and been completely fine. 

Kakuzu rubbed his temples with a sigh. He didn't know how he got himself into such a clusterfuck of a situation but he hated himself more in that moment than ever. He tugged his mask off and let his hair fall freely over his shoulders and rubbed his face aggressively as if it would help him wake up from a nightmare.

Not only a child... But Hidan's child. That child would be the worst thing in the entire world, he was sure of it.

This is why Kakuzu killed his partners. They caused too much damn trouble. They were more trouble than their worth. Plus, if they had a bounty which they normally did, he could always cash them in after. 

Well, at least he hadn't had to deal with this type of problem before. Which was impressive since he was 91 years old. Wow. He was 91 years old and it took a 22-year-old crazy, brash, literal psychotic silver haired male albino for him to have a pregnancy scare. Seriously. This was his life.

The worst part about it was he actually... had feelings. Sure, most of them were anger and loathing but there was something about Hidan that for whatever strange reason, Kakuzu liked. He liked their banter, he liked being able to literally stab Hidan and have Hidan look at him with that annoyingly blank expression as if saying 'seriously? Is that all you have?' and then they would fight even more aggressively. They would draw each other's blood; they would create such a mess of destruction together. 

Then Hidan would sit still and allow Kakuzu to stitch him back up as if nothing happened. How fucked was he that this was something looked at as a positive in a relationship?

He didn't die when I killed him so...

Kakuzu was back to being frustrated. It was honestly the only emotion he knew how to feel and he felt it well. He was perpetually angry. All the time. No alterations, just anger. And that was fine for the longest time. Now he was marked by an alpha he didn't particularly care for either way, Hidan was angry at him, and all he wanted to do was stab the zealot repeatedly... With his knife or a far more interesting body part, he wasn't entirely sure yet.

Perhaps... Hidan would rise to the bait. He always did. Hidan loved to fight as much as Kakuzu did. Maybe after he fucked Hidan, things would make more sense, they would be more clear. Kakuzu could barely think right now.

He stood up and went to Itachi's room and opened the door. Hidan was actually reading a book. A baby book but still it was the weirdest thing Kakuzu ever walked in on. Itachi and Hidan reading together. Could this organization get any stranger?

"You. Come." He demanded and Hidan scowled. Itachi looked like he was going to say something but Hidan actually got off the bed. Kakuzu smirked slightly. Leave it to Hidan. He was almost as bad as Deidara. Sure Hidan liked to play like he was the aggressor in bed, and perhaps with Deidara he was. But not with him, Hidan loved to submit to him.

Kakuzu brought them back to Hidan's room, not wanting his room to fall victim to whatever happened between them. He closed Hidan's door and Hidan went to start talking but Kakuzu shut him up with his threads. Hidan looked at him with an irritated expression. Kakuzu took his mask off again and tossed it to the table. He walked over to Hidan and started to yank his pants down. Hidan thrashed against the hold Kakuzu had on him. Giving him the opportunity to speak, Hidan snapped.

"What the fuck are you doing!? You think I'll fuck you after what you just pulled!?" Hidan snapped and Kakuzu didn't really pay him any mind. He bent down and took Hidan's shoes off. Then pulled his pants off all the way. Hidan scowled down at him. "I'm not going to fuck you, you can forget about it!" 

Kakuzu forcefully pinned Hidan to the bed while he began to strip. Hidan clenched his jaw while he watched. If Kakuzu was naked during his heat, he didn't remember it. And when they fucked Deidara, he was completely clothed. Kakuzu was muscular. Way more muscular than someone his age should be. 

"You're getting hard, Hidan." Kakuzu said with an amused chuckle. Hidan's cheeks burned and his eyes narrowed.

"Yeah well I still don't want to sleep with you!" He said childishly, Kakuzu pulled his pants off and climbed into Hidan's bed and loomed over Hidan menacingly. Not that he was trying to intimidate him, but he knew that by doing so, Hidan would become even more turned on. Hidan liked a show of power, he always had even if he masked it with his annoying voice. 

"Well, I don't care." Kakuzu said simply. "Because I want you." Lining himself up correctly, he pushed himself into Hidan and grunted at the feeling. "Fuck." He said through gritted teeth. Hidan was tight, tighter than he'd been last time Kakuzu fucked him. Not nearly as tight as Deidara but Hidan was sopping wet. It made gliding into him so much easier. 

It didn't take long for Hidan to start moaning. Within the third thrust, his head rolled back and he rocked his hips with Kakuzu's movements. Kakuzu was lucky he was too horny to put up a fight. Although the more he thought about it, the more he realized if Kakuzu ever wanted to sleep with him, automatically he would be horny enough to sleep with him without any qualms. 

"Kakuzu..." Hidan caught his breath and he hissed out the end of Kakuzu's name in a barely audible whisper. 

When the two of them got together, it was normally a show of dominance. They'd mark each other up and really try their best to cause pain. Right now, Kakuzu couldn't even think of doing it. Not that he wouldn't have enjoyed it, but Hidan just felt so good he couldn't focus on anything else. All he wanted to do was thrust into his body until he came and then do it all over again. 

"K-Kakuzu." Hidan gasped at whatever movement Kakuzu did. Kakuzu's grip tightened on Hidan's body, he leaned in enough to hold him in place. Their chests brushed together, Hidan's legs wrapped around Kakuzu's torso, giving him plenty of room to move. Kakuzu's face was buried into Hidan's neck. He could scent Deidara still but mainly he smelled Hidan. "Kakuzu." Hidan's voice was a whine, but Kakuzu knew there was more left to be said. He hummed in response, lips pressed against the base of Hidan's neck. "Claim me." Hidan felt Kakuzu's fingers tighten their hold. His thrusts got rougher and suddenly he felt teeth sinking into his neck Hidan cried out and bucked his hips up, brushing his cock against Kakuzu's stomach and coming all over the both of them. Hidan shivered with sensitivity and while Kakuzu continued to thrust into his now significantly tighter hole, he bit down on Kakuzu's neck. The fact that he could make Kakuzu whimper like that set a new fire in the pit of Hidan's stomach.

Hidan was so tight he could feel the pulsing of Kakuzu's orgasm and the warmth in his abdomen. Much to his surprise, Kakuzu fiercly pressed his lips to Hidan's and they both kissed each other with vigor and anger. Hidan's fingers curled into Kakuzu's hair and he gripped a handful of hair at the base and Kakuzu growled at the feeling. 

Eventually the high of the orgasm wore off and they kissed with less and less enthusiasm until Kakuzu finally pulled away. He stared at Hidan into his hooded purple eyes. He knew it was strange for a beta to feel as possessive as he had in that moment with Hidan, but he didn't really care. He laid down next to Hidan and pulled Hidan into his chest tightly and held him there. In that moment, he didn't care that Hidan was pregnant. Everything was okay.

***

Kakashi sat in front of Obito's grave with the book in his lap. He didn't want to be done with the book already but there he was.

He traced Obito's name with his thumb and felt a deep sadness all over again. He had no one. No one from his team was alive.

When Rin died...

Kakashi shook his head with a sigh. He couldn't even think about it anymore. Why had him and Rin switched places? Well, he knew why. He wanted them to try and capture him instead, they wouldn't try had they known he was the White Fang's kid. And to protect him, Rin just let them kill her. He watched his best friend die just 5 months after watching his soul mate die. 

Kakashi laid back in the grass and stared at the sky.

"Hey Obito." Kakashi whispered. "That cloud looks like rain."

***24 years before***

"Oh, hello." Obito looked over his shoulder to see Kakashi and huffed. Of course Kakashi was here. He couldn't leave him be. After embarrassing him the other day by being better than him at literally everything, he couldn't just go away? Figures. 

"Hi." Obito said stiffly.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Cloud-gazing. Helps me think." Obito said and laid back down on the ground. "I like to see if any clouds look like shapes or not."

"Oh, that sounds cool." Kakashi said but didn't sound like he thought it sounded cool. Obito glared. 

"Well it isn't like I invited you to lay down with me, huh?" Obito snapped and Kakashi smiled under his mask and sat a foot away from Obito and laid on the grass by his side. "What are you doing?"

"I want to see shapes too." Kakashi said and pointed up at the sky. "That one looks like a kunai." Obito tried not to smile, but he was thinking the same thing.

***19 years before***

Knowing Kakashi was a pain in the ass. He continued to be good at literally everything and he successfully managed to pull Rin's attention away from Obito so Obito was officially annoyed. 

Not to forget that Kakashi actually graduated earlier than them and still managed to show up time to time and just be mysterious and annoying. Just to catch Obito's attention out of nowhere.

"Obito." Obito wanted to groan. Think of the devil and he shall appear.

"Kakashi." Obito said coolly. 

"Why are you always here looking up at the clouds?"

"I'm thinking! It helps me think!" Obito snapped. Was he going to ask this question every time?

Obito took a deep breath and had to remind himself that Kakashi was going through something. He didn't know what, but the last time he saw Kakashi there was a void in his eyes that stuck with Obito to that day. 

"Are you going to join me or stand there like a stalker?" Obito asked with annoyance. Kakashi almost left but something coaxed him into staying. He laid down next to Obito and looked up at the sky with him. 

"The clouds are almost gone." Kakashi said and Obito sighed. He knew that already. There was one cloud in the sky. 

"It doesn't even have a cool shape, either." Obito said bored. Kakashi made a thoughtful sound.

"Well, I can say it looks like rain." He said and Obito turned his head slowly to Kakashi. For the first time in years he saw a semblance of humor behind those dark black eyes. Obito let a laugh bubble out.

"You would." He said and looked back at the sky.

***15 years before***

"Seriously Obito?" Kakashi said flatly and Obito glanced over at him and pouted.

"Shut up, Hatake!" He scoffed and Kakashi sighed. Leave it to Obito to sit in the training grounds and just lay on his back and stare at the sky. "I'm just trying to clear my mind is all. I'm going to get the Sharingan this year, you better know it!" He said, grinning. Kakashi rolled his eyes. Always the same sad determination with him. It was exhausting.

"So what does cloud gazing have to do with anything?" Kakashi asked and Obito shrugged.

"It helps me-"

"Think. Yeah. I know. Sorry for asking." Obito glared at him and went back to looking at the sky.

"Congrats, by the way." Obito muttered unhappily.

"Hm? What for?" Kakashi asked.

"You're an alpha. Which I'm sure literally no one saw coming." Obito said dryly and Kakashi was thankful for his mask because he flushed at that. "So are you going to lay down with me or are you going to stand there with your stupid alpha face." Kakashi rolled his eyes and laid down next to Obito and stared at the sky. 

"There aren't any clouds out today." Kakashi noted and Obito nodded.

"It's a bummer but that's about where my mind is at anyway." Obito said with a frown. "We have an actual war mission."

"So why aren't you training?" Kakashi asked and Obito glanced over at him and sniffed with a huff.

"Well Mr. Alpha," he started with a pout. "Some of us are still transitioning. My body hurts." Kakashi's eyes widened and he looked over at his teammate. Yeah, he looked tense despite laying down. 

"Maybe you shouldn't go, I mean, what if you're an-"

"Omega? Please! No one in the history has ever been a male omega Uchiha. I'm not worried about it."

"But... what about being weaker? You can't hinder the mission-"

"Oh for fucks sake, Kakashi, you and your damn missions. Don't worry, if I get in your way you can just leave me behind like everyone else." The thought of leaving Obito behind never crossed Kakashi's mind. He wondered why he apparently had no qualms with parting with Rin, but not Obito.

***

"Yeah, people who abandon the mission are scum, but people who abandon their friends are worse than scum!" Obito yelled, panting heavily. His body was on fire and he knew he wouldn't stand a chance but he couldn't let them take Rin. He just couldn't do it. 

As Kakashi stormed the opposite way of Obito, he grew increasingly worried about his well-being. It only took 10 minutes of walking in the other way for Kakashi to curse and backtrack looking for his teammates.

By the time he got there, Obito was on the ground trembling and there were a few enemy ninja standing around him with leers.

"This one's gonna be an omega, maybe we can keep him too."

"He does smell really good, doesn't he?"

"He just barely presented, he's still a virgin."

"Not for long though."

Kakashi saw red.

He wasn't even aware how he did it but he managed to cut all of them down and he stood over Obito who seemed close to passing out. His heat would come shortly and Kakashi hissed at that. He hadn't had his first rut because he hadn't smelled an omega in heat. If Obito went into heat, there was nothing preventing him from rutting and that would just ruin the entire mission for a completely different reason. 

While lost in his thoughts, Kakashi was attacked, a slash to the eye. Obito shouted and stumbled to get to Kakashi. 

"It's okay! I'm fine!" Kakashi said and the ninja disappeared. 

"You... Hurt him." Obito seethed. "You don't touch him!" Red eyes flashed open and in one swift movement, he gutted the ninja that was camouflaged behind him. His breathing was heavy and he turned to face Kakashi.

"Obito! Your eyes!" Obito swallowed thickly.

"We have to get Rin." He said seriously. 

"But, you're still transitioning." Kakashi said quietly. "You won't be able to-"

"I'm not an omega yet!" Obito said with flushed cheeks. He hopped down and ran off to the cave in search of Rin. Kakashi cursed and quickly ran after him.

Kakashi should've known it wouldn't last very long. In the midst of fighting, even through his mask he could smell it. Smell Obito. He was done transitioning. He was officially an omega.

The feeling through Kakashi's body burned and he turned to Obito with his only good eye widened. Obito was still forcing himself to fight through and eventually they won. It didn't last for long. Reinforcements arrived. Obito saved Rin and tried to drag her away. All while burning from his impending heat. 

"We have to go." Obito said once the cave started to shake. Kakashi gave Obito a look. Did Obito not feel it? Was he just ignoring it? "Run!" They made a mad dash to the cave entrance and Kakashi felt his hand brush against Obito's and a shock went through his body. 

Obito was his soul mate.

Kakashi stumbled and fell over. Obito yelled and shoved Rin towards the exit and quickly ran to Kakashi's aid. Rocks of all shapes fell around them and Obito glanced up and noticed one was going to crush Kakashi. His soul mate. With the only strength he had left, he threw Kakashi out of the way only to have the boulder crush half of his body.

Obito screamed and Kakashi was alert enough in that instance to get over the pain he had all over his body.

"Obito!" Rin screamed and ran to his side. Kakashi not far behind her. His heart felt like it was shattering. No.

"Kakashi... What are the odds, huh?" Obito gave a weak smile his body getting weaker by the second. Kakashi nearly shoved Rin out of the way to grab hold of Obito's hands.

"Minato-sensei should be here soon, you should just hang on-"

"I won't make it, Kakashi. Sorry." Obito apologized and the slight grip Obito had on his hand got weaker. "Kakashi, I... I want you to take my Sharingan, okay? I didn't get you a present for making Jonin or being an alpha. Plus, I think it would be really cool to always be with you." Kakashi felt his eye well with tears and he grabbed onto Obito desperately. No, he couldn't die too. He already lost his father. He didn't need to lose Obito too. 

"Please don't die Obito." Kakashi begged and Obito laughed softly.

"You have to take my eye now, Kakashi. Please. Rin. Please help." Rin nodded shakily. "Come on Kakashi, lay with me. Just one last time, okay?" Kakashi was trembling. He nodded slowly and laid down next to Obito. The cave ground felt hard against his body, it made him wonder how much more uncomfortable it was being Obito. 

Rin prepared for the eye transplant and tried her best through the crocodile tears that poured down her face. She hiccupped on a sob and Obito looked up at the opening on the top of the cave. He smiled at the clouds he could see.

"Hey Kakashi." He said softly. He was becoming cold. He'd be dead soon. 

"Yeah Obito?" Obito smiled and looked back at the sky.

"That cloud looks like rain."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've deleted all the questions and notes.
> 
> Because of shitty comments, this story has been put on a hiatus. Probably permenant.
> 
> Sorry everyone who supported me. I just don't feel like getting shitty comments anymore.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Hi everyone. I'm going to tell everyone a story as to why this chapter took so long.**
> 
> I honestly discontinued the story. I had every plan to not write any more of it because of how everything was handled in the comments last chapter. I deleted most of the terrible comments but kept a few of them. 
> 
> I write because I'm depressed and I want to lose myself in something. These stories I write keep me going when all I want to do is die. I've had a lot of trouble the past few months with how bad my depression got and with each negative review I just felt even worse. Like I couldn't escape the reality where no one cares about me here by writing because people kept telling me I was a lazy writer and I didn't deserve praise here either. I shouldn't expect anyone to comment and no one owed me anything.
> 
> You're right. No one owes me a damn thing. I post these stories so other people who maybe are sad can escape for a while like I can. All I wanted was for some form of... validation. Everyday I'm told I'm not worth anything. Everyday I wonder why I'm still alive and sometimes a positive comment is really something that makes my _entire_ day. So yeah, if you read my stories, you don't owe me anything. You don't have to comment. Just... please don't insult me when I'm already so low. And know that even the smallest comment really does make me feel better. 
> 
> To all my readers that have stuck with me so long, I love you guys. Thank you for everything. You're amazing. To all my readers who are new to the story, you guys are awesome too. 
> 
> This is usually the part where I respond to all of my comments but I have so many of them from last chapter. But thank you. All of you who believed in me and who believed in the story that was left unwritten.

Chapter Thirty-Two:

"Where is Gaara?" Temari and Kankuro tensed instantly at hearing Lee's voice. They turned to face him and saw he did not look happy in the slightest.

"Lee-"

"Where is he?" Lee's lips were pressed in a firm line and Temari's shoulders sunk. 

"He... left."

"When?"

"Two days ago?"

"You told me-"

"Lee, you're sick. If we told you, you would've run after Gaara and you would've gotten hurt. We didn't do this to spite you. We did it to protect you."

"That isn't fair! Gaara is my mate and I should've run after him. What if something bad happens to him?" Lee's breathing sped up and Temari and Kankuro could taste the despair in the air.

"We sent some ANBU members after him. They're following from a slight distance. He'll be okay. There's not much we can do. He was going to do this even if we tried to stop him."

"He's my mate-"

"Yes! Lee! We know!" Kankuro snapped. "And he's our brother! And he's Sunagakure's Kazekage! He was going to do this one way or the other. We wouldn't have been able to stop him if we tried. There's no doubt that you're strong, Lee. But Gaara is on a completely different level. He would've left anyway. Just because he's your mate, doesn't mean he's going to submit to you." Lee scowled at that.

"I don't want Gaara to submit to me! I want him to see me as an equal. I want him to actually include me on these decisions-"

"He didn't because you wouldn't have let him go, Lee. Kabuto knew just what to say to play you both like a fiddle. They planned this. I'm sorry Lee, but it was going to happen." Lee shook his head and stormed towards his bedroom.

"Lee, were are you going?" Temari called.

"I'm getting ready to go after my mate!" Lee said in a huff and Temari sighed, she didn't expect anything less. "Kankuro, go with him." Kankuro sighed and nodded.

"Yeah... Alright..."

***

"Hidan. Wake up you damned zealot." Kakuzu mumbled into Hidan's ear. Hidan grumbled and hid his face in the crook of Kakuzu's neck. "Hidan, you brat, wake up."

"No." Hidan grumbled and Kakuzu rolled his eyes and sat up quickly, shoving Hidan off of him. "What the fuck, Kakuzu??" 

"Don't 'What the fuck, Kakuzu' me. I told you to get up. I have to do things. So do you. Wake up."

"What fuckin time is it?" Hidan asked and Kakuzu smirked at him. "Ah you absolute fuckass, it's before 7am, isn't it?" When the smirk didn't go away, Hidan covered his face with a pillow. "Fuck you. I'm tired. I'm sleeping."

"Wake up evangelist." Kakuzu nudged Hidan's side and Hidan didn't move. "Ok. Have fun sleeping. I'm going to eat." Kakuzu climbed over Hidan to get off the bed and Hidan started to whine. "What now, brat?"

"Kuzu, I'm hungry." Kakuzu rolled his eyes. "Make me food, Kuzu."

"Stop calling me Kuzu. It isn't cute. If you want to eat, you're getting out of bed." Hidan groaned under his pillow for the entirety of Kakuzu getting dressed. Kakuzu simply stood there and rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time since awakening. Hidan was already a full time child, he wasn't sure how Hidan would be a parent.

"Hey Kuzu," Hidan started and Kakuzu clenched his teeth in annoyance but didn't respond. "Isn't Deidara coming back today? That is today, right?" 

"Why?" Kakuzu asked and Hidan threw the pillow off of his head, now awake enough to look at Kakuzu and not whine about sleeping.

"I gotta tell him." Confusion flickered on Kakuzu's face for a second before realization set in and he nodded. "Are you mad?"

"Why would I be angry, Hidan?" Kakuzu asked, with a sigh and not much emotion in his voice.

"Because I don't know who's kid it is."

"I don't know what to do, Hidan. I'm done talking about this. I'll be in the kitchen." Kakuzu left the room without another word and Hidan stared at the door with a frown. 

"Man... What the fuck." He sighed and then a thought popped into his head. He was going to annoy Itachi awake. It had to be like 6:30. Surely the Uchiha genius was sleeping. It was a perfect opportunity to fuck with him.

Hidan quickly got dressed, by dressed, he wore pants and that’s it. He opened his bedroom door and ran down the hallway to Itachi's door and threw the door open loudly with a hellish grin on his face. 

He was met with an unimpressed look of an already awake Itachi, sitting on his bed reading a book.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Hidan spat. "I rushed in here to wake your ass up and you're already awake? What the fuck?" Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"Uh... I'm sorry?"

"You better fucking be. I'm so upset right now." Hidan shook his head and stared at Itachi with such a disappointed expression. "What the fuck are you doing awake anyway?"

"I wake up early?"

"Of course you do." Hidan scoffed. "I'm gonna go force Kakuzu to make me breakfast, you wanna join?" Itachi shrugged and closed his book. May as well. "Sweet, do me a favor. Call him Kuzu, he loves it."

"No he doesn't and I don't understand why you're trying to get me murdered but I don't appreciate it." Itachi said dryly and Hidan snapped his fingers and cursed at his foiled plan.

***

"Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked loudly and Kakashi looked around awkwardly. He was standing in the middle of the Uchiha compound and so far he'd only seen Sakura and Naruto. What were they doing here?

"Where's Sasuke? I need him for a mission." Kakashi said and for whatever reason Sakura tried to distract him by letting out a high pitched yelp. When Naruto and Kakashi both turned to her she just stared at them and looked at Naruto.

"I panicked. I got nothing."

"You tried, Sakura." Naruto said seriously and Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Uh... Sasuke, you see..."

"What happened was..."

"Can you guys just let me know when Sasuke runs away from the village? Can that be a thing at this point? Just let me know so I don't look like an ass when I try and get him for a mission? Like, 'hey, Kakashi-sensei, just so you know, Sasuke ran away again.' So I can go back to my apartment where I have a board that says 'days since last Sasuke run away incident' and I can set that to zero."

"... are you trying to be sarcastic or do you really have-"

"No, Naruto. I REALLY DO have that in my apartment." Kakashi said dryly. Naruto looked curiously over at Sakura.

"He's being sarcastic, Naruto." Sakura insisted flatly.

"Oh... Well... surprise! Sasuke ran away again!" Naruto said with an awkward laugh.

"Where did he go?" Kakashi asked, beginning to rub his temples. 

"Well... you see... We don't know."

"You don't know?"

"No." Naruto said again. "We don't."

"Well let's start with, what do you know?" Naruto sighed and plopped down on the ground. 

"We'll be here a while..."

***

"Lee, come on you have to take a short break!" Kankuro shouted and Lee continued to run. "Lee you're in the desert! Stop running and take a break to drink some damn water!" 

Kankuro was slowly going crazy. Lee didn't want to listen to anyone. It wasn't Kankuro's fault Gaara left in the middle of the night. Sure, he could've told Lee about it but what good would it have done with Lee acting as sick as he was? Lee would have died out in the desert from over exposure. Then he would've had Gaara on his case when he got back. And for whatever reason, Kankuro was sure he would get Gaara back soon.

"I do not want to stop! I must keep going!" Lee's voice broke and Kankuro grabbed Lee's shoulder and whipped him around to stare at Lee in the face. Lee had tears in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away. "Please, just, let's go."

"Lee..." Kankuro said softly. "Lee don't be upset, we're going to get Gaara back. He's going to be fine. He has ANBU members right behind him. Don't worry. No one will hurt him."

"Gaara is my mate and I love him very much, Kankuro. I do not wish to sound like I do not believe you, I am just... I cannot lose him." Kankuro nodded slowly. 

"He can't lose you either, Lee. Please, drink your water." Kankuro handed the canteen to Lee and Lee stared at it helplessly for a moment and finally took it and drank the water greedily. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was. "We're going to get him, but don't run full speed and hurt yourself or you'll be no help." Lee looked away, ashamed but nodded.

"You are right, Kankuro. Thank you for your concern for me." Kankuro smiled.

"Hey, you're like my brother in law, I gotta look out for you." He said fondly and Lee smiled and looked at least slightly better. "And as an older brother, I say we go slower, especially in this hot sun. We could seriously get hurt. We can run more when we have the shade by the trees. Running in the desert is a surefire way to get heatstroke."

"You are right again, Kankuro. I apologize. Please, lead the way."

***

"Itachi-san!" Itachi perked up and turned behind him. Kisame and Deidara stood side by side. "You're outside! How wonderful." Kisame said, with a sharp grin.

"Kisame..." Itachi said quietly and closed his book. "How was the mission?" He asked and Deidara's face heated up and he stormed off inside. "That good I take it?"

"You know how Deidara is on missions where he has to dress like a girl." Itachi couldn't even find a sick pleasure in that considering he was in the same situation. He hated being sent on missions pretending to be a girl, it was ridiculous. It would be one thing if he had to be a girl and that was it, but the outfits he was put in were just so... uncomfortable.

No one ever spoke about the time both Deidara and Itachi had to go undercover at the same time. 

Hidan almost pissed himself and he was taken off the mission.

"How have you been while I was away?" Kisame asked and sat down on the ground next to the boulder Itachi was sitting on. 

"Well, Hidan seems to have formed a sort of kinship with me. And he's pregnant. So there's that." Kisame blinked several times and Itachi nodded awkwardly.

"How did Kakuzu take that?"

"I mean he took it poorly and then they were okay this morning. In fact, I think Hidan said he was going to tell Deidara..." Itachi trailed off and blinked. Both him and Kisame made eye contact and quickly jumped up and ran inside the hideout. 

***

"Deidara." Hidan said and Deidara paused at the weirdness of Hidan's tone.

"Hidan." Deidara replied awkwardly. "Can I help you?"

"You say that like you weren't looking for us to begin with." Hidan said, grinning and Kakuzu rolled his eyes with crossed arms, standing several feet away from Hidan. "How was the mission-"

"You know I'm not talking to you of all people about the mission, hm." Deidara said flatly and Hidan gave a lecherous look.

"You are absolutely right not to. I completely agree with that decision." Deidara wrinkled his nose.

"You two mated." He said and Hidan nodded.

"Is that a problem with you, alpha?" He teased and took a step closer, scenting Deidara's neck. Deidara shivered at the sudden sensory overload and couldn't help but want to get closer to the smell of Hidan. 

"...You... smell... hm." Deidara's eyes examined Hidan's body. "You smell pregnant." He said and looked up at Hidan's face. Hidan remained pretty emotionless for a beat or two and then a grin stretched across his lips.

"Hey look at that, I didn't even have to tell him." Hidan said over to Kakuzu. "And he's already taking it better than you, old man." 

"One day I may die, my cause of death will be the amount of times I roll my eyes at you, Hidan." Kakuzu said dryly and Hidan laughed loudly.

"You must be weak as fuck if that's how you go."

"I will end your life." Kakuzu stated factually and Hidan swatted him off, staring at Deidara as the information was being processed.

"Do you know who's it is?"

"Yeah, funny fuckin story about that. When an omega gets pregnant, they actually get a goddamn receipt on the entire genetics of the baby for this exact fuckin reason."

"I know you're being sarcastic right now, but I may be more impressed you know about genetics." Deidara quipped and Hidan turned to Kakuzu, who was hiding his smirk behind his mask.

"Do you hear this shit? Both of you are assholes to me and I don't appreciate it. I'm a fuckin peach." Hidan said with a huff.

"Can you scent who's kid it is?" Kakuzu asked and Deidara shrugged his shoulders. 

"I know our sense of smell is powerful but scenting something microscopically small through Hidan's body isn't exactly my forte, hm." 

"Wow, Deidara. You're sassy as fuck. Is this what happens when you dress like a woman for a few days?" Deidara gave Hidan an unimpressed look. "What? An honest question."

"I don't like you." Deidara said simply and Hidan smiled widely at him. 

"I think it's cute when you lie, don't let anyone tell you different." Deidara's face burned and he glared over at Kakuzu.

"Are you going to respond to this baby problem?" Kakuzu asked and Deidara shrugged. "Seriously? That's your response?"

"What do you want me to say?" Deidara snapped. "It's already a thing, it happened. Nothing I say is going to change any of that. So what do you want from me, hm?"

"Wow, Kakuzu, he's really taking this better than you did... Hey, where are you going?" Hidan called after Deidara. "Deidara! Fuckass! Where are you going?"

"I need to blow something up, like a town, hm!" Hidan ignored the look Kakuzu was giving him.

"Shut up, old man." Hidan said stiffly.

"Think he's taking it better than me now?"

"Shut the fuck up."

***

"...And so yeah, that's what happened." Naruto finished and Kakashi ran his fingers through his hair. "Say, didn't you know Itachi?"

"Yes. I believe I've told you this already, Naruto. Itachi was on my ANBU squad." 

"Sensei, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that he was under my care and I didn't see any of this. I didn't realize anything was happening and this happened and I just..." Kakashi shrugged. "I was so wrapped up in my own Uchiha drama, I didn't think much about any other drama."

"What was your Uchiha drama?" Naruto asked and Sakura elbowed him. "What? We know nothing about Kakashi-sensei, it was a simple question." Naruto argued and Kakashi shook his head slowly.

"It's nothing. But this just makes me curious as to where Sasuke would run off to now. Obviously he's going somewhere for answers but is there even an idea of where that could be?" Naruto shook his head and Sakura shrugged. 

"We should go after him." Naruto said and Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Naruto, we don't even know where that is."

"I can scent him out probably." He tried and Sakura shook her head.

"No you can't, Naruto. I know you have a problem scenting things." Sakura said quietly and Naruto's shoulders slumped. "I don't mean to make you feel bad, but I don't want to send you on a wild goose chase."

"Sakura is right. Naruto, I know you enjoy running around chasing Sasuke, but honestly there's nothing you can do for him right now. He obviously knows where he's going to get answers and we can't do much else other than wait." Naruto looked down at the ground in defeat.

"Naruto he didn't leave you again. He'll be back." Sakura said softly.

"He always does this, it isn't fair. Why doesn't he trust me to go with him?" Naruto asked and Sakura frowned at that.

"He doesn't not trust you, Naruto. Maybe he just knows you don't want him to go where he's... going..." Sakura trailed off and Kakashi glanced at her and realization dawned on the group. Naruto nodded solemnly. 

"He's going to Orochimaru, isn't he?" No one spoke again.

***

Gaara knew he was there. He stared at the entrance of Orochimaru's underground lab and just stood there. This wasn't a good idea, he knew that deep in his heart but with a slight nudge to go on, thinking about his future, he couldn't help but take the final steps into the underground hideout.

"Oh, Gaara! I'm glad you could make it." Gaara didn't hide the sneer on his face, upon hearing the voice of Kabuto. "And would you look at that, you didn't even bring that pesky mate of yours. Good boy." The sarcastic purr of Kabuto's tone made Gaara scowl. "Oh I'm just teasing you. Come on. Follow me."

Every ounce of self-preservation screamed at Gaara to not follow but he couldn't help it. By this point, no one could heal him. He needed Kabuto. The thought made his stomach turn and he felt the acid bubbling in his esophagus but he pressed on, much to his chagrin.

"Lie down here." Kabuto pointed to a room. The room was oddly clean and smelled like antibacterial cleaner. It burned Gaara's nostrils. "I don't bite." Kabuto said, grinning in a way that made Gaara uncomfortable. 

***

"Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto called into the room. Orochimaru glanced up, a smile on his face. "I've been thinking about the situation."

"What about?" Orochimaru asked and gestured for Kabuto to sit down. 

"It will be almost impossible for us to keep Gaara here for the duration of his pregnancy. Right now I have him recovering in the room after I performed the surgery to fix his reproductive system. Sasuke should be here shortly for answers about his brother but I don't think this will work as well as we want it to."

"What are you saying you'd like to do, Kabuto?" Kabuto grinned at his lord.

"I was thinking, we could still create that child of yours, but use a... different incubator."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Orochimaru asked, glee in his voice. "Harvest some eggs."

"My lord I already did." Kabuto said, smirking. There was a glint of appreciation in Orochimaru's eyes and Kabuto felt the pride bubble up in his chest. 

"Excellent. Now all we need is Sasuke."

"Any minute my lord. Should I release Gaara when he wakes up?" Orochimaru grinned.

"Why not? Then we can surprise everyone with how quickly Gaara was released." Kabuto chuckled.

"Oh, my lord. They'll think we've gone soft."

"Good. Then they won't see any of this coming, will they?" Kabuto nodded, looking pleased. 

"We have two different incubators we can use-"

"Use the omega." Kabuto nodded firmly and left the room. 

***

"Sasuke, what a wonderful surprise!" Sasuke didn't say anything, he just slammed a paper down and Orochimaru picked it up gently and his eyes scanned the page. As he read each line, his smile got wider until his grin was predatory. 

"Oh, this old thing?"

"Where's the rest of it?" Sasuke growled and Orochimaru tilted his head to the side. 

"What, ever do you mean, Sasuke?" 

"Don't play games with me right now, I'm not in the mood." Sasuke said dangerously and Orochimaru smiled sweetly and placed the paper by his side.

"Alright, you've convinced me. I do know where the end of your brother's journal is, but in order for me to give you that, you're going to need to give me something of yours." Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"What do you want?" He asked dangerously low.

"Not much, dear Sasuke. I just need a swab sample of the inside of your cheek."

"That's it?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow. Orochimaru nodded, still smiling. "What do you need it for?"

"What does it matter? You don't need to stay here, you can get your papers and be on your way. Do we have a deal?" Sasuke paused but nodded slowly. "Excellent! Kabuto, please come in and take the sample from Sasuke." Kabuto strolled in the room with a kit and rubber gloves on. He stood in front of Sasuke and cupped his face with one hand, holding a swab with the other hand. Sasuke opened his mouth and Kabuto took the sample and removed his hand from his face. Sasuke winced slightly feeling a pull of his hair and Kabuto smiled innocently.

"My bad. Your hair stuck to my glove." He said and bowed to Orochimaru and left the room.

"So the papers?" Sasuke said impatiently and Orochimaru nodded and stood up and Sasuke followed him out of the room.

They finally got to another room where Orochimaru rummaged through some things and pulled out a stack of papers.

"This is it." He said simply and handed Sasuke the pages. Sasuke's eyes scanned through the pages making sure everything was there and that it was his brother's writing to begin with. When he realized it was he nodded and put the papers in his bag. Still not trusting he was able to leave, he decided he should try to get out of the lab as quickly as possible. "Goodbye Sasuke." Orochimaru waved, grinning like he won something amazing. Sasuke wasn't sure what it was but left quickly before something nefarious would happen.

***

Gaara woke up and rubbed his head. His mind was foggy from the medication that Kabuto used to put him under, He pulled his shirt up and noticed a small incision on his stomach and was amazed Kabuto was able to get around his sand protection to cut him open to begin with. He sat up and looked around, not knowing exactly what happened or if he was even healed. He stood up from the bed and Kabuto walked into the room.

"Oh! Kazekage-sama. You're awake." He said, smiling. "Well I came to check on you but since you seem to be fine, you're free to go." Gaara raised a brow and Kabuto stepped out of the way for Gaara to exit the room. It was an incredibly uncomfortable feeling. He didn't feel like Kabuto harmed him in any way but the thought of being ambushed as he left kept him on high alert. Sand started to swirl around his feet anxiously and Kabuto left the room, motioning for Gaara to follow him.

With his sand on high alert, he was decently sure he would be protected if something happened.

Kabuto brought him to the stairs that led to the outside of the lair.

"Thanks for stopping by and sorry about that little problem that happened." Kabuto said and Gaara felt a strange feeling in his gut.

"Why did you want me to come out here anyway?" He asked dangerously low.

"Just a huge misunderstanding. Sorry. You won't be bothered by us again, Kazekage-same." Kabuto bowed to him and Gaara didn't know what to do. His body felt strange but he was sure it was just after effects of the medication.

Gaara left quickly, and for whatever reason, he felt himself slowly forget how to get to the secret base as he walked further and further away from it, but thought nothing of it.

***

"We have both specimen?" Orochimaru asked, with glee. Kabuto nodded.

"Yes, and our omega incubator is prepared and ready for insemination." 

"This is going a lot better than I originally thought." Orochimaru said and followed Kabuto to the lab to greet the new mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually ask questions about the chapter here to try and prompt people to comment but I'm not going to do that this chapter. I usually make a poll for an insignificant detail on the story that I want you guys to help me on, but this chapter I'm not going to do that. 
> 
> This time, I'm just going to ask one thing.  
> Does the chapter feel different without them?


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